#also OV is a hit or miss

[cessmaga]

I don't get why cn wanted ben and kai to be that "one bickering couple" where ben bickers with his partner a lot is too out of character for him

I don't think ben is that aggressive when it comes to conflict, yeah he could argue with his lover but not in a sense petty way, if anything he would try to apologize and fix things, and he's not that petty to be that "couple who bickers with his lover a lot but secretly loves them"

also there has to be a real reason ben would argue with his partner a lot not some petty reasons

there dynamic is way too similar to OS ben and gwen's dynamic than an actual loving couple 😭

[kariachi]

Sorry-not-sorry I'm back on my normal 'Kevin and Argit were so small' bullshittery.

Because they fucking were. Kevin was twelve when Servantis tossed everybody, and Argit couldn't have been far off. They were middle school aged. 'Puberty would be starting about now if we weren't wandering the Null Void and therefor likely not eating near enough' aged.

A pair of children, with minimal education, no paperwork, no homes, no guardians. Wandering the Null Void and then the Milky Way, on their own. One a prime target for the slave trade, both prime targets for adults looking to take advantage of them (*coughcoughOttocoughcough*). With only as much security as they could provide themselves and each other. Only able to rely on themselves for the basic necessities of life.

And then this show has the audacity to try to tell me that they turned to crime due to poor morality. That they're money focused because they're just naturally greedy. That they don't trust people and look out for themselves because they're bad people that either will always be bad people or will only improve because of the power of Tennysons.

What options were there for them? What jobs are there in the Null Void? What jobs are there in the galaxy that'll hire barely-teens, if even that, with no paperwork or educations, that wouldn't ruin them as badly and pay worse than the crime they already had experience with? Will keep them fed and clothed and sheltered? When one of them already has a criminal record, for violent crimes at that? When there's nobody there to stop even the 'good' adults from taking advantage of them?

The show will sit there and tell you that Kevin's violent crimes were the result of a rough childhood, but he and Argit's non-violent ones? Totally on them, no excuse, wholly a matter of greed and not giving a shit about other people. Fucking bullshit. This is a pair of kids who had to grow up way too fast, up against an existence that saw at least one of them as easy profit, with nothing but themselves and each other, and no opportunities. They're a pair of traumatized kids who grabbed the opportunities available to them with both hands and were molded by the problems they faced.

Of course they're money-focused, unlike the Tennysons they don't and haven't had anybody making sure they had enough to get by. They've had to support themselves and live with the constant worry that something is going to go pear-shaped and they'll have nothing.

They spent years with anybody and everybody being a potential threat (even between the two of them, Argit's noting that Kevin's snapping while he worked for the Rooters was the worst he'd seen 'before or since' makes it quite clear he's seen him on and passed the edge at least as much if not more than we have), of course they're going to be slow to trust, quick to toss people aside, and unwilling to help their enemies without some sort of payout, they've been burned before.

Just- Damnit these two come from some shitty fucking situations, the effects they had on them are obvious if you bother to fucking look, and they both deserved better than the series just going "oh yeah they're assholes what do you expect they're criminals" and moving the fuck on. Like, for fuck's sake at least acknowledge that they're like this because life was a fucking lead pipe to the teeth to them! We know Kevin's situation was shit even before they met, we got to see it, but even if Argit had a perfectly good life beforehand (unlikely) the earliest we see him is being held captive for illegal experimentation purposes by law enforcement! These two have been through shit! At least acknowledge it!

Fuck, they could've replaced Color of Monkey with that, hitting on the differences between how Kevin and Argit adapted to their circumstances, give us upfront the Tennysons being a safety net that let Kevin heal (rather than just 'oh the Tennysons taught him morals because they're the Good People') while Argit's issues and lack of security kept him stagnant. It would go better with what we see of him over the course of OV leading up to the Rooters arc, and what we're shown in the Rooters arc. Give us him still being far from great or on the up-and-up but improving with the stability that comes with his 'hero' status, a repairing relationship with Kevin after that arc, and a flourishing, above-board business. Rather than backpedaling on any good the writers had thrown at him like they'd realized they were coming up against a cliff.

Shit that makes you want to get the writers by the shoulders and shake them mercilessly.

[scribblesofagoonerr]

— Separate ‖ | © scribblesofagoonerr

pairings: leah williamson x jordan nobbs x separate reader!buddy x chaos fc reader!monkey

summary: buddy is reunited with monkey, and there up to no good already.

here's the start of the cross over nobody asked for but i wrote anyways, featuring everyones' chaotic fc reader, monkey.

also thank you to @alotofpockets for putting up with me sending my ideas for this and word jumble.

Sure enough with a bit of encouragement, you slowly came out of your shell enough to move to sit in Leah's lap and get in all of the cuddles that you had missed throughout the last week.

Until you hear the front door open, and you knew who it is straight away.

"Ello'? I'm home!" You hear your favourite person shout aloud and your quick to jump up from Leah's lap and race towards the front door, "Where's my favourite little buddy?" She asks.

"Here I am!" You all but launch yourself into the arms of the older girl.

"There you are!" Monkey exclaims, squeezing you gently as she spins you around in her arms, "I've missed you loads!"

"I've missed you too!" You can't help but giggle as your lowered back onto the floor, "Look! We're doin' Lego!" You pull her in the direction of the lego blocks scattered on the floor where you had left Leah and Jordan in favor of Monkey.

"Aw, wow! So you like the lego set, huh?" Monkey grins as she slumps down on the floor and your quick enough to drop down into her lap, the two older women completely forgotten about now that your favourite person is here.

"She's been waiting for you to come back," Leah states, smiling at the pair of you together.

Monkey gasps dramatically before she beams a wide smile, "You have? Well I'm here. Where've you been?" She asks, tickling you under your ribs.

"I went on holiday with my mama, silly!" You exclaim, bursting into a fit of giggles right there, "Where you been?" You wonder, curiously.

You know Leah and Monkey went somewhere, but you can't exactly remember where.

Or if you were told, you didn't really listen much to it.

"Oooh right, of course you did!" Monkey facepalms herself and you can't help but laugh again, you sometimes think your favourite person is the funniest person in the world, "I went to Nashville and I was in my cowgirl era. I even had a lad try hit on me and I told him to kiss my--"

"Monkey!" Leah exclaims, cutting the girl off, "She's 3, she doesn't need to hear that!" She scolds her, which you find it even funnier.

Monkeys' always known to get herself into trouble, sometimes you're corrupted and like to join in with her as well.

It's even more fun when Kyra comes to visit as well.

The three of you have so much fun!

You find it funny sometimes when you watch Leah and Kim tearing their hair out with your favourite person.

"I wasn't even gonna say anything," Monkey holds her hands up in self surrender, smirking at Leah.

You look at Leah to see her giving Monkey one of her usual stern facial expressions. You see it happen a lot, but never usually directed towards you at least.

It's always Monkey.

"And just like that we're forgotten about," Jordan jokes, seeing you happy enough again with being in the company of monkey, "I should probably go." She suggests to Leah, knowing it's the easier option that wouldn't lead to tears.

Leah hums in agreement as she watches you and Monkey together, "That's probably a good idea," She replies before she turns to look at you, "Mamas' gonna go home now, Buddy. Shall we go and say bye?" She questions.

You nod and scramble up from the older girls lap to throw yourself directly at Jordan's legs, "Bye, Mama! 'Ove you!" You exclaim.

"I love you too, my little Buddy," Jordan crouches down and plants a gentle kiss on the top of your forehead, "Be good for your mummy, okay? No getting led astray either." She tells you, glancing in the direction of your favourite person.

"Accusations. False accusations!" Monkey screeches loudly and dramatic, which of course makes Leah roll her eyes in response, "I don't know what yer' even talkin' about there!" She insists, shrugging her shoulders.

"You and I both know what I mean," Jordan remarks, chuckling at the older girl as she ruffles her hair, having the height advantage being stood up while Monkey is still sat down.

"Pft," Monkey scoffs and stands up off the floor, "I'm still an inch taller than you!" She insists, smirking at Jordan.

Leah shakes her head at the antics of your favourite person, "That's enough, Monkey!" She states, firmly before the older girl can continue to wind up Jordan any more, "Stop being a menace, go and do something productive!" She tells her.

Monkey pouts and slumps her shoulders, "I'm bored though and I can't talk to Kyra because she's asleep still!"

"Kyra!" You squeal at the mention of the Aussie girls' name, "I wan' talk to Kyra!" You insist.

Leah gives Monkey a pointed look, "See? Look what you've done now," She pinches the bridge of her nose.

"Oops," Monkey gives the blonde a guilty facial expression.

"I wan' speak to Kyra!" You insist once again.

Shaking her head, Leah turns to look at you, "Buddy, you'll see Kyra when she comes back home, but you can't talk to her because it'll be night time for us when she's awake." She explains.

"I wan' speak to Kyra," You whine, not entirely understanding the whole aspect of time zone differences.

"Ooo, Buddy! I know who we can talk too!" Monkey perks up with the idea as she grins at you, "How about we go and talk to Lessi instead?" She suggests, hoping that you'll agree to that.

"Lessi!" You cheer excitedly, forgetting about the Aussie women for now.

"Yeah, Lessi!" Monkey repeats before she sweeps you up into her arms, "You wanna go fly around the house?" She wonders, knowing exactly what you like and don't like.

"Yeah! Yeah! Fly!" You squeal in delight, squealing even more as Monkey balances her hand under your tummy and you're in the air within seconds.

"All aboard Russo airlines," Monkey jokes, making fun of the blonde for her celebration, "Neeeeeawww!" She makes the noise of a plane, running through the house with you in her arms.

"Don't drop her, Monkey!" Leah and Jordan both shout in sync, almost both of them having heart attacks seeing it happen.

"Sounds like you got your hands full there," Jordan remarks, shaking her head.

Leah chuckles slightly in response, "I'm not sure who's more of a handful at times," She replies.

"Definitely Monkey," The older women out of the two replies, grinning at her ex-girlfriend, "Right, I'll be goin' then. Her teddies in the front pocket of her backpack if she wants it."

"Thanks," Leah nods in agreement, "I'm sure she hasn't asked for it yet when she loves that thing." She adds.

That thing that Leah was referring to was Mr. Bear, a stuffed brown bear that was gifted to you from your great-grandma and ever since you got him, you carried him everywhere with you, even going as far as almost dropping him out of the window one time and Jordan had to stop the car and jump out to retrieve him to save any of the tears.

"Yeah, me neither," Jordan agrees with her ex, "And her blanket, if she needs it is--"

"Jord, don't worry. I've got it, Leah interjects, chuckling slightly at her ex girlfriend, "She's my daughter too, remember? I can figure these things out."

"Yeah, of course, sorry force of habit," The older women out of the two gives her ex a sheepish smile and nods, while shoving her hands in her pockets, "Ehm, I'll be here on Friday at 2 to collect her for the weekend then." She tells her.

"I'll see you then," Leah nods curtly, opening the front door to let Jordan out, "Safe drive back."

Jordan smiles slightly at Leah, "Yep, thanks. See you on Friday." With that, she waves at her ex girlfriend before she departs down the driveway and climbs back into her car for the long drive back home.

© scribblesofagoonerr

[hyewka]

*ೃ unconventional sex

synopsis. where they'd like to fuck outside of the boring ol’ bedroom.

warnings/notes. mostly sub!reader (beomgyu's a tad bit subby), no protection + creampie, mention of impregnation for soobin, dry humping, fingering, groping, bulge kink, reader's older with beomgyu (use of noona honorifics), barely proofread + varying lengths with each extract, does not include yeonkai !

★ choi soobin |

ever since the overwhelming amount of layoffs widespread throughout your entire company had started to hit your specific department, you've been coming from work exhausted, ready to slip off your torturous heels the moment you key your door open, stumbling over to your bedroom to finally throwing yourself on the comfort cushion you've been drooling about all day. usually, you'd take the time to stare up your ceiling contemplating the day, and the day before, and the day before...until your brain picks up the overly familiar rattle of the door—each time, startling you awake with the realization that you were about to drift to sleep in your work clothes, without taking a shower, makeup still very much on your face. during these days are you especially grateful with your boyfriend's struggle with the door despite living here for the past two years has persisted, because god knows soobin would've opted to let you sleep instead of waking you up.

soobin gets home, you go take a shower, then prepare yourself for bed as he enters the bathroom. its a routine you've grown accustomed to. today was no different— your brain is on its own lookout of soobin's signal entrance. when you hear it, your shut eyes immediately fly open like muscle memory, your half-nap reached its inevitable end. you don't expect the moment you sit yourself up, for soobin's large figure to come through the door, wobbly as he walks over to you and engulf you in the biggest, most suffocating, loving embrace, basically tackling your body back down on your bed. "soobin?" you whisper, his cologne overpowering your sense as you quickly realize that your body compared to his would not survive if he stayed another full minute on top of you.

"i have to go shower baby." you wheeze out, "and you're about to crush me." he nuzzles his nose in the crook of your neck as retaliation, his breathing pattern almost immediately syncing to yours. "shhh, i missed you." he whispers groggily— you sure weren't the only one drained after work.

soobin was a big baby in that sense, feeling his lips forming into a pout against your neck. the paradox of him being a broad man with a towering figure makes it a lot more endearing, and also hilarious, making you burst into a series of giggles...but not enough to let him continue crushing every bone of your body. "soobinnn," you whine trying to wriggle yourself off his hold but failing for the hundredth time, "i really, urgently, seriously need to take a shower."

after a few beats of silence, and you thinking you might just give up and fall asleep under him, he speaks up, lifting his head from the comfort of your breasts, his eyes doe-like, "let's take one together then." you think he's joking and so naturally you're sent to another fit of giggles and half laughs...until it quickly dies down with his very more-than-serious face, making your brows perk up in disbelief, eyes wide. "hey, you're acting like it's the first time!" he defensively retorts at the judgy expression spread across your face before his lips form into a comically exaggerated pout, his bottom lip sticking out, making sure to force his dimples as bonus. "plus, we'd be saving up on water bills ...you know?"

you should've known better, and really thought it over, because a shower with soobin would never end without having your cheek pressed against the shower's glass panel, steam long fogging up the view, his fingers tightly intertwined with yours, palm flat against the panel, head drooped down to your neck, sloppy purple splotches displayed all over, feather kisses on your overly fresh hickeys, his hips unrelenting, fucking your cunt closest thing to doggy style space would allow— the brutal, pornographic sound of skin slapping on skin mixture with your uncontrolled moans almost loud enough to drown out the shower head.

his length slips in and out of your cunt in a rhythmic speed, his breathing so heavy and whines so loud, getting your legs to buckle when he hits your cervix, "shit, soobin— soobin, slow down" your mewls hitch when water runs down from your face to the entrance of your mouth, choking momentarily. your head is foggy, light with ecstasy the more he drills his dick far deep inside you— eyes slowly rolling to the back of your head, feeling your energy quickly replenish. but soobin isn't done yet, oh, far from it.

you're too far gone to differentiate between water and your tears as soobin turns you around swiftly, making sure he doesn't slip out as his dick's still far buried in your warm pussy, switching positions as he pushes you to have your back against the tiled shower wall. you muster the energy to weakly shake your head, your chest heaving, "c-can't, binnie, i can't—no more-!" but soobin can't help himself, so horny over the reveal of your messy face, red with a mixture of drool and water seeping out the corner of your pink swollen lips as a result of his rough kissing. his calloused finger display over the bulge in your tummy and soobin loses the last bit of his sanity. "sorry baby," he says with much pity, his large hands positioning your wobbly legs to cling around his waist, "i just missed you...just need you—need my pretty's cunt so, so bad."

the steam enough to make both of you light headed as soobin's thrusts slower than before, thrusts calculated so surely and patient, your hand claw at his bare back every time he roughly hits a spot, hyper aware of every vein against your walls, soobin's head falling back as he groans, mouth slightly open at feeling your tight pussy clench around his dick, the running water hitting his face, hair further plastering to his forehead, his slippery hands bruising your waist the tighter his hold gets—soobin's never this rough, to the point your body jerks when his large hands start fondling your perked up tits, lips parted as he blatantly stares down.

"gonna fuck a baby into you," he breathes out crazed, his long lived fantasy of getting you full and big with his baby driving him to roughly land a passionate, wet kiss before attaching his lips to your hard nipples, sucking so earnestly while his thrusts become unrelenting, picking up, erratic as he detaches, eyes fixated on the long string of saliva connecting his mouth and your swollen nipple, oh how addicted to you he was. with every frantic thrust, your breasts bounced, slapping together, a lewd view he could stare at for hours...and hours...and hours.

you could almost pass out from the overwhelming sensation, your body long overheated, fog submerging around your feet, but soobin's degrading laugh gets you to flutter your eyes open, "fuck, these breasts would look so pretty swollen—don't you think? you'd like that right?" your lids are heavy over your eyes as you sniffle your runny nose, not exactly processing his words. "you want me to get you pregnant, don't you?"

bonus. soobin who bathes you, a sweet, caring boyfriend making sure to keep your smaller figure protected, washing your hair so in love with every aspect that makes up who you are—knowing he made the right decision with choosing you. your loving boyfriend who whispers in your ear, with your back against his chest, the bubble bath both healing and relaxing, "keep it in." the transition of his cute giggles to the low rumble of his voice near your ears has you blinking confused, yet you still find yourself nodding, completely under his trance. soobin who's giddy, having your body completely engulfed by him, no space between the two of you with his hand wrapped around your waist, snuggling close to you, a grin so wide as you both quickly fall into sleep, some of his seed leaking down your leg, your swollen abused cunt unable to fully follow through your boyfriend's command.

★ choi beomgyu |

beomgyu was never known as being an overly... patient fellow which would explain a lot. like the time he burst into a woman's bathroom because he just could not wait a few more minutes until the janitor could unlock the jammed door for the mens', or when he downed a spiked drink a second before he could be told that he was supposed pour it down the sink, or...now, when he has you pinned on the floor, clearly not in the mood to stop and take it to bed. "beomgyu—" you gasp when he starts nibbling on your earlobe, grounding his erection in between your legs. you start laughing nervously when he slowly trails his kisses down to your exposed collarbones, "let's get up, beomgyu, baby stop playing around."

he whines, starting to teasingly suck, slight nip on your skin. and you just...can't wrap your head around the position you're in—a few seconds ago, you were watching a cute movie with your beloved, adorable boyfriend and suddenly the teasing jokes started, then the addition of pillow fights on each other had you both toppling to the floor, giggling like little children. and now you had your boyfriend on top of you, not willing to negotiate and do the deed on the couch at the least— something a little more comfortable than a hardwood floor with no carpet furnishing. instead he busies himself, already rutting his hips against the aching need between your thighs, soft groans magnified to your ears, his breathing getting heavier and faster by the minute.

"beomgyu, we're on the floor." you repeat for the hundredth time— in between the startled gasps every time he got just a tinge bit rougher—thinking it'd get to his head this time. "who cares?" he whines, his sly hands already finding their way under your shirt, ministrating, fondling like the horny dog he was. "you're so fucking hot noona, can't control myself."

patience was never beomgyu's thing. having your shirt haphazardly pulled over your tits because he was just too goddamn impatient to undress you properly, your panties bunched to the side in frantic urgency as he finally prods his leaking tip at your entrance, sliding it in and out to prep, light headed as he bites down on his bottom lip, before he decides he just can't wait any longer, voicing his sorries over and over again as he fully takes you in unexpectedly, stretching out your tight pussy, earning him a delicious, drawled, loud moan of his name. and oh, does he fucking lose it. "louder, say it louder."

beomgyu who pounds you senseless, hand reaching up to grope your breasts every time he gets close, strained groans when he spills inside you again, hips still unrelenting, fucking his seed into you, his sweaty shuddering body looming over you when he stops for a second to catch his breath, you similarly worn out, head hazy, barely able to use your strained voice as you had lost it by the...you could barely keep count. "such a fucking cumslut, huh? taking everything so well noona," he babbles with each sudden thrust to your pliant body, you unable to arch your back from utter exhaustion, "love you, love you so much baby."

bonus. beomgyu's favorite locations? many, but the floor always takes the cake. the animalistic nature of just pure horniness and sweaty backs on the cold wooden floor—it's beomgyu's thing.

★ kang taehyun |

it starts off with the subtle brush of his hand on the roundness of your ass, a few times and you pretend it's nothing. then came a squeeze, right as you were washing dishes with your mom, the suddenness of the action making you freeze for a second, the polite gentleman facade he put up with your mom as he converses, leaving yet another good impression. it all confuses you— how he's able to play it off like nothing while you were practically breaking out in cold sweat. it couldn't be accidental. nothing is accidental with taehyun.

you weren't nervous about introducing taehyun to your (rather conservative) family—he was unanimously picked as your best partner thus far by even your closest friends, which you trust the judgement of. you believe it too, that he's the nicest, most genuine guy you're lucky having to call yours...but it seemed that with each passing minute, you were questioning your decisions.

taehyun isn't a fan of typical pda: hand holding, kissing, embraces that overstayed its welcome, but oh was he particularly bold with everything else. sitting at your family's home dining table, the one you grew up with, reminiscing the countless mornings of rushed breakfasts as a teenager— even recognizing the initials you carved by the edge of the table, it all rushes back to you and you feel guilty for not visiting as often as you should have. your mom who displays a feast on the table, ranging from delicates to turkey and fried rice—your father sitting right by her, uncles and aunties filling the remaining seats, everyone joyfully eating and conversing amongst themselves before your mother clears her throat to finally quench her curiosity.

occupation, the college he graduated, plans for marriage, kids, all of which he answered with perfectly satisfactory answers earning him a few swoons from the older women, to which he tried to be humble making the women get even more swoonful over the generous flaunt of his pearly whites...all the while you sit there at the edge of your seat metaphorically and physically, more than aware of the hand toying with the hem of your dress, dangerously inching closer and closer to your inner thighs.

you could barely hold up your glass of wine without having your hands shake just so slightly at the dangerous game taehyun was more than willing to play. you try to clear your throat, anything to get him to wake up, and remind him where you were, but he seemed nonchalant, picking at his food, eating at small portions, participating in conversation when prompted.

"why aren't you eating y/n? i cooked you your favorite foods!" your mom pouts, drawing the attention of the entire family, all eyes on you—which was just great. just great as taehyun's hand hid under the tablecloth, finger long stuffed in your cunt, your panties bunched to the side as he had his way with you, insanely slow as he decides to shove a second finger making your eyes widen, quickly reaching for the glass to drown out any noise you might slip up—but taehyun's gaze is focused on you, following the crowd, awaiting your answer to the pending question. "um, uh—yeah, sorry, i-i ate a few hours ago."

lies. when it's time for a movie and conveniently, you get to the living room last as you went out to fetch everyone a soda, realizing that you'd have to sit on the floor. taehyun catches you looking for a place to sit, pulling on your dress to catch your attention. when you turn around raising an eyebrow, he pats his lap, motioning to you to come sit, but you shake your head.

you can't, and frankly you don't trust taehyun to not...do something. but he tuts at you, patting his thighs again, this time, mouthing it to you, "sit."

"aww, you guys are so adorable, y/nie go, go, sit." you snap your head to see your mother, who's been invested with your relationship the entire dinner night. "no, mom, i don't want to make him uncomfortable i-"

"what kind of man would be uncomfortable with his girlfriend sitting on his lap?" your uncle speaks up and now all of a sudden, everyone's pitching in the conversation to the point you might just be driven to insanity with all the back and forth. when everyone settles down and the lights are shut off, you feel taehyun's chin resting on your shoulder, a cute gesture until you hear him whisper, "try to stay quiet baby."

the real intentions of kang taehyun were always less than pure.

bonus. spilling juice on your white dress with purpose, unknownst to everyone else who're quick to take out napkins and dab it on the stain, panicked over the ruined white—taehyun taking it as an opportunity to come off as caring as possible to your family, heightening his approval ratings, excusing you both to the bathroom so he can try and clean it off. it was a win win, getting your parents approval, and pounding you in the same bathroom you got potty trained.

a/n. my obsession with soobin + pregnancy talk is detrimental to my mental being holy shit 😂 wanted to try out some footing with different settings, a little bit of a headcanon practice and dom!txt as i have practically almost nothing of the sort in my masterlist that isn't totally fucked up. thoughts and overall feedback are extremely helpful and appreciated, it motivates me greatly. to all those who wanted sub soobin, i promise i'll serve a full fic soon ❤

[lunarw0rks]

I politely crave moreee awkward placed injures with reader and task force 141. Also why is it so hard to spell awkward like I spend 10 minutes trying to spell it :D

No Filter | Part Two

A/N: I wrote this in an hour, I apologize if it's lackluster. I was picturing the sparring scene from Miss Congeniality while writing this - if you know what I'm talking about I love u. Not proofread.

Summary: From a simple training session to a brawl.

Warning(s): platonic!141, mild language, crackfic, canon-typical "violence", very mild injury/blood, fem!reader, no use of y/n

Word Count: 1.3k

꒦꒷ MAIN MASTERLIST ꒷꒦ 141 MASTERLIST PART ONE | AO3 VER. // have a request? // ˗ˏˋ ASK BOX ˎˊ˗

What you were trying to do was train. The right way.

But did that ever go as planned in this God-forsaken place?

In this God-forsaken task force? Not ever.

It was a simple sparring session, a rare one where everyone was participating. Each member picked a buddy, yours being Gaz—one of the more tolerable, humble men you worked with. Though, he had his sore moments every now and then.

Gaz raised his fists, the both of you dancing around in a circle as you braced for impact. “C’mon, hit me!” He exclaimed, curling his lips into a smug smirk. You squinted at him, returning the playful glare as you debated on your next move.

“What? Get shot in the bits but you can’t punch me?” He chuckled, reminding you of the bullet welt still healing—an awkward reminder of the enemy’s odd aim.

At the mention of it, you swung at him, rendering him on his ass. Kyle groaned and held his throbbing forehead, a tender mark where your gloved fist knocked the cockiness right out of him. “Bloody Christ, I said hit me not give me a brain injury!”

You stifle your belly laugh as best as you could, feeling a sting where you were still healing. Instead, you outstretched a hand, pulling the spiteful Sergeant to his feet. And here you were thinking Garrick would be a less irritating sparring partner. Surely, less obnoxious than Soap, and miles less intimidating than Ghost.

You heard a thud behind the two of you, causing you to turn on your heels and inspect the hilarious scene in front of you. Soap was on his ass, holding a small cut on his brow—one that would leave him with a nasty bruise for weeks. The skull-faced Lieutenant stood over him, arms crossed over his chest as he watched him writhe.

“You got distracted, Johnny. Ended up on your arse.” he taunted, taking a few steps back as Soap regained his footing.

With Ghost’s strength, it could’ve been any limp thrust into Soap’s temple. Your guess? Probably an elbow or knee. Soap pointed a finger at Kyle’s reddened mark where you sucker punched him, as if sitting him in the same boat of embarrassment.

“Look at him! Knocked down by her; a nasty mark that is.” His Scottish accent grew stronger the more heated he got, though Ghost remained untouched by both the activity and the humor.

Soap approached, giving your touchy chest a knock with his fist, “I’m proud of you, lass, sticking up for yourself, especially with this one.” He pointed to Gaz’s disgruntled scowl, an often recurring expression on his youthful face. Though, you were more focused on Johnny’s patronizing—he hadn’t let you live the boob incident down.

That vigor resurfaced, making you sweep Soap’s feet out from under him with just a kick. “I told you not to bring that up, you bastard!” You lunged for him, but he had rolled out of your path, finding his footing again. It was game on now—to hell with proper, tactical training.

Soap gripped your shoulders, sending you both to the foam mat with a grunt. The struggle was entertaining for the rest of them, to say the least. Even Simon; the man nonchalantly stanced to the side, pretending he’s not associated with the clown show playing in front of him.

You ended up on top of him, knees on each side of his head. It took every bit of your might, your training to keep his arms from swatting you in the face. It was like two siblings wrestling over their turn with the remote.

“They’re just—” Johnny grunts, resisting the neck pin, “—too damn distracting!” Oh, he was in for it now. That idiotic smolder on his face, like you weren’t seconds from adding to the nasty bruise on his brow bone.

“My bets on her. She’s got a lot of rage.” Gaz whispered to Simon, holding a cold compress to the throbbing mark on his head.

Ghost turns his attention to Gaz’s laughable appearance, then back to the immature brawl. “Johnny’s like a hungry hound, he won’t go easy. Just like I taught him.”

Simon was right. You got too caught up in your need for vindication, disembarking you into the submissive position, a smirking Soap above you.

Your feet pressed against his toned stomach, your only lifeline because your arms were pinned above your head. “Next time we do a honeypot operation, you’re wearing the thong, MacTavish!” A harsh kick delivered by you, right on his kneecap sent him keeling to the side of you, allowing for your brisk getaway.

You slithered around Gaz, using his frame as a distraction so you could gather yourself. Cheating? Perhaps; but Soap started this, not you. Your eyes peeked around him, now circling around the middleman until an inevitable mistake was made.

“Bet you’d love to see that.” Soap answers your remark from seconds ago, sweat pooling on his bruised brow. Kyle eventually got fed up being used as a wall, yanking your arm and thrusting you towards your mow-hawked opponent.

It wasn’t the quick move he thought it was, however. His foot snagged on yours, sending him tumbling to the ground. And you? You slipped on the ice pack that came flying from Garrick’s grip as he fell. It was like a trio of klutzes all in one room. Surely, no one would be able to picture you three as serious members of the Task Force after all was said and done—but you needed revenge, craved it.

Kyle let out a groan of contempt, barrel rolling out of the way as you and Johnny scuffled again, stumbling along the training room as you attempted head-locks on each other.

Simon retreated into the corner of the room, observing his moronic co-workers as he played with the blade of his knife. Sooner or later, the Captain was either going to find out about this incident second-hand, or walk into this unprofessional brawl. Either way; the skull man was not going to be involved. His fortuitous knee to Soap’s temple was enough to fuel his ego for the day.

You received a few elbows to the rips, some knocks on the side of the head, all while petty insults were thrown at the Scot. It was ridiculous, but in the moment—you were on top of the world, beating Johnny’s arrogance.

You latched onto Johnny’s back, attempting to finally give him a well-deserved choke hold. What did you get instead? A forearm to the nose, a small smear of blood on your wrist when you instinctively raised a hand to your throbbing nose.

Soap was chuckling… until he witnessed you compose yourself within a matter of seconds. The saying he heard once; hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. He believed it to be true the moment he saw you charge him, a disabling kick to his balls. Not strong enough to leave him impotent—enough to make him see stars.

You got ahead of yourself too, delivering the kick too soon after a blow to the face. You lost your balance, finding yourself crumpled on the floor beside MacTavish. Unless it was literal life or death, neither of you were continuing this tussle.

“What the hell is going on in here?”

Everyone’s heads perked up at the sound of the Captain’s irritation. Imagining the scene from his perspective made sense; Kyle pouting with an ice pack on his head, you holding a bloodied nose while stunned, Soap clutching his wounded manhood, and Simon in the corner sharpening a blade.

It was in his nature to keep professional, though he had to fight the urge to cackle.

“You were supposed to be training with each other, not partaking in catfights.” He cleared his throat. “Will someone explain to me why everyone but Simon is injured?” John crept closer, hands behind his back as he hovered over the two of you, inspecting the evidence on your faces.

Soap raised his head, mouth open to speak, but the Captain cut him off. “Not you.”

You gritted your teeth, still in the midst of catching your breath, “he talked about the boobs again.” It was a humiliated mumble, like a child caught in a lie. As if there weren't enough staff meetings caused by this unit specifically…

“My office. Now, all three of you.”

[thefallennightmare]

Miracle-epilogue

*gif created by me. feel free to use, simply give credit*

Pairings: Noah Sebastian x Reader

Warnings/Tropes: forced proximity, slight enemies to lovers, slow burn, smut, angst, fluff, mentions of death, and swearing.

Summary: Reader is the merch girl for Bad Omens. It wasn't what she wanted to do with her life but when her mother got sick with Alzheimer's, reader took a job where she could to help with the costs. She thought it would be a one-time gig but the longer she was on the road with them, the harder she fell for Noah Sebastian; even if he wanted nothing to do with her. She needed a miracle to save her mom and her future.

Author Note: I couldn't stay away from these characters or this universe. I hope you all enjoy! Also, thanks @thescarlettvvitch for the small idea 😉

Tags: @ada-clarence @nonamessblog @thescarlettvvitch @malice-ov-mercy @crimson-calligraphyx @theoneandonlykymberlee @yumikitten @blackveilomens @cherrymedicine13 @thebadchic @notmaddihealy @jay02bo @beaker1636 @jakekiszkasguitarpick @punk-pr1ncessxoxo @er3nslovergirl @iamdesolate @lma1986 @jessitpwk @themodern-daywednesday @writethrough @bngurngheart @dreams-that-are-anwsered @loeytuan98 @omens-in-reverse @loverofagoodbeard @jay02bo @niicoleleigh @tearfallpixie @cupidsdreams

MOOD BOARD created by @madomens

The crowd cheered wildly behind me as I scurried in front of the barricade; the camera hanging loosely around my neck. Bryan and I gave each other a high five as we passed each other for me to come to a stop center stage, eyes gazing up at the man in front of me. His eyes shined as he spoke into the microphone, thanking everyone for coming out to another sold out show; the last show of the tour. The last night was always electric, exciting, and from the energy radiating from the crowd behind me, they felt the same.

“We only have a few songs left tonight,” Noah began only to be cut off by a loud ruckus of cheers. “But we can’t thank you all enough for your continue support and love for the last couple years ever since we blew up. We were this small town band from Virgina that moved to Los Angeles with a dream; one that came true.”

Noah’s eyes darted down to me and winked, a warm hue covering my cheeks. “And for some of us, we had a few extra dreams come true.”

With a bashful gaze, I mouthed three simple words up to him.

“I love you.”

The corners of his lips lifted as his eyes now sparkled, blowing me a soft kiss then started into Enough, Enough Now. This tour was all about their older songs, with of course their hits from their current album, but Bad Omens wanted to reinvent their older songs.

I let out a deep breath, stretching out the pain in my back and abdomen before busying myself switching between pictures and videos of all the guys for the next few songs. As I was walking down the steps from Folio’s drum stage, I nearly missed the last step and almost tumbled to the floor until familiar arms wrapped around me.

“Angel,” Noah hissed. “What did I say about walking around on the stage in the dark?”

Thankfully, it was a quick break in between the last two songs as the video intro started for the next one so our conversation was hushed.

“I’m fine,” I reassured him while standing on two feet. “I missed the last step, that’s all.”

His eyes narrowed under the stage lights while I brushed away the hair from his face. He decided on letting his hair grow again and it was almost a comb over across his forehead. He looked ethereal cast in the red stage lights as Jolly started strumming the first few notes of Concrete Jungle.

But I noticed he didn’t move, only continued to stare at me with those intense dark eyes and hands on his hips.

“Noah,” I sighed. “I have to work still.”

“I know, angel. All I’m asking is that you’re careful, alright? I don’t want anything to risk-,” His hands reached for mine and gave them a gentle squeeze.

“I will,” I promised while cupping his cheek. “I’ll be more careful.”

Noah gave me a small smile before laying a gentle kiss on my forehead, something the crowd noticed and cheered loudly. Pushing him back to the center of the stage, I giggled while walking to the side of the stage where I noticed Matt watching with a smirk.

“A bit of a difference from last tour, huh?” He asked while crossing his arms over his chest.

I hummed in agreement and stood next to him, opting to watch the rest of the show instead of take pictures, and thought back to how last tour went. It was about a month after Noah and I got married and I was still apprehensive about letting the fans know about us. We got married pretty soon after our engagement, less than a year, but that was only because we didn’t want to waste another second once Bad Omens finished writing their current record. Noah offered we could get married while they were writing but I declined, telling him he should only focus on one thing. The ceremony was quiet, in a hushed location in Washington, where afterwards Noah and I stayed for a month in the same cabin that he proposed in. We kept the marriage a secret for the first year since Bad Omens were about to go on tour overseas, one I of course followed with. Even though we were married, I continued to work for them as their social media ambassador; until the last few months.

Reading some of the darker side of the comments on posts or online didn’t sit well with me mentally, along with some personal things I was dealing with, so after a deep conversation with Noah, we decided it would be best if I continued taking pictures and videos alongside Bryan but they would have someone else posts and take care of the social media accounts. The entire tour overseas, Noah and I kept our relationship quiet and while he was on stage, we kept it professional, much to his dismay. But he always understood why we needed to keep it that way. We rarely went out in public just the two of us to avoid any untrue rumors and when we went out as a group with everyone, we did our best not to make it seem like we were together.

It was fucking brutal, and we hated every second of it. It was getting in the middle of our marriage and made the first year exhausting and heartbreaking when it should have been filled with love and joy. There was a night where we had an intense argument that Noah went to spend the night at his old place with Jolly and the rest of the guys while I stayed back at the home we were creating for ourselves. I didn’t sleep even for a few minutes that night and neither did Noah because I felt him crawling back into our bed hours later, leaving a soft kiss to my head.

“I’m sorry, angel,” he murmured while brushing away the dried tears from my face.

Now, we were both at a better place, mentally, that I felt comfortable with our marriage being out in the open. If people found out, good for them. It wasn’t because I was ashamed or didn’t want to be seen with Noah. In fact, it was the opposite. I loved Noah with my entire fucking soul. He was the miracle I’d been searching for.

So before this tour began, about four weeks ago on our first anniversary, Noah posted a 24 hour story on his Instagram, with my permission of course.

It was the picture. The one from that first party all those years ago, back during Noah’s long hair era. There were three simply words typed across the picture, ones that started a frenzy.

Happy anniversary, wife.

In return, I posted a picture of Noah and I, one that Bryan took on that one tour so long ago. It was back when we were sort of dating and the night of the storage closet. It was that moment after the show when I was sitting on Noah’s lap, playing with his necklace as he kissed my lips. Unbeknownst to us, Bryan took our picture.

My caption mirrored Noah’s: Happy anniversary, husband.

Matt nudged my arm, bringing me back to the present, and I hummed in response to his words.

“What did you say?”

He snickered while nodding towards Noah, who was giving a bow to the crowd as they cheered for one more song.

“I’m glad you came with. I know last tour was kind of rough for you two.”

I nodded. “Yeah but we worked past those issues. We’re in a good place, finally.”

“Good,” Matt smiled. “Because I don’t know if I could handle crabby Noah for another tour.”

Just as he finished speaking, Noah ran up to me and wrapped me in his arms, breathing in my scent. I giggled while leaving kisses along his shoulder, the salty taste of his sweat bittersweet on my tongue.

“Are you okay?” He asked while pulling away slightly so he could look down at me.

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I’m fine.”

The rest of the guys bounded up behind Noah as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder to pull me into his chest.

“Usual last night tradition?” Noah asked.

My heart rate picked up, and I wrapped myself tighter around him, the nerves beginning to lock me into place. This was something we talked about for awhile now and I knew it was coming, but I was still so nervous to see how everyone would react.

They had the tradition on the last night of the tour to sit in the back of the bus and play Mario Cart until the wee hours of the morning. But this time, Noah and I had a little something extra planned.

Jolly nodded. “Of course.”

“That is if Y/N remembered to bring the game,” Folio gave me shit as we began walking back to the green room.

“Oh my gods,” I groaned. “Yes, I forgot it on the last tour but did you forget how many stores I went to find it? Spent my entire afternoon running around so you idiots could play it.”

Nick chuckled. “Are you going to join us this time?”

Noah squeezed my shoulder, but we both kept a neutral face.

“Nope. It’s your guy’s thing. I already planned on laying in my bunk and reading a book,” I said as we walked into the green room.

“You can, angel,” Noah said as he reluctantly let me go so I could pack up my things.

I smirked at his rouse and threw over one of his sweaters, it almost drowning me in it, and walked up to him leaving a peck on his lips.

“Please tell me you remembered the bag?” I mumbled against his lips.

His hands squeezed my hips. “It’s in your bunk, ready to go.”

I brushed away the sweat matted hair from his forehead so I could look directly into his eyes. I wanted to make sure the both of us were one hundred perfect on board with this decision. Noah was the one that brought up the idea last night and while I was still apprehensive, I agreed. They deserved to know; soon they would have found out if we didn’t say anything.

“You’re sure? What if we have another-.”

Noah wrapped a hand against the side of my neck and lifted my chin with his thumb. “We waited long enough, angel. We’ll be okay, we were before. This time, if it happens, we’ll have the support of everyone.”

Tears burned in my eyes as memories of the past came flooding back, something Noah noticed, because he pulled me into his chest and rubbed soothing circles against my back. His lips brushed along my hairline as his sweet words eased the pain that sat low in my heart. It never went away; it continued to fester there, stabbing the knife deeper and deeper. Especially now.

“It won’t, angel,” Noah reassured me, his own sniffles being muffled by my hair. “This time will be different. It already is.”

I smiled into his shirt when I realized he was right. This time is different, and there was already proof of it.

“Okay so before we start,” Noah spoke as we all lounged in the back area of the bus, it driving us the twelve hour drive back to Los Angeles.

“She forgot the game!” Folio bellowed while sitting up taller on the couch.

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Fuck off, Folio.”

Noah hushed my words with a pat to my knee before he set a small gift bag on the floor in front of both Nick’s and Jolly, who stared at it with a raised brow.

“What is this?” He asked.

“That’s the whole point of a gift. You’re supposed to open it to see,” Noah urged with a nod.

Noah’s knee bounced with anticipation and I rested a hand against his thigh to ease him and he placed his hand over mine to link them together. We shared a loving gaze, one he ended with a wink and smirk as we watched Jolly pull out the first gift.

“Naruto socks?” He asked with a raised brow, confusion etched in his voice.

“Dude, these aren’t even in your size,” Folio snatched them and eyed them. “They look like they could fit a kid.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my smile away.

Noah rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, about that.”

Nick then pulled out a Bad Omens beanie, bright white letters on the back that only Noah and I could read.

“It’s a new design,” Noah said when they all eyed it with curious eyes. “Its an infant size.”

The three of them shared a quick look before Nick turned over the beanie and his body went stiff when he read the writing on the back.

Sebastian.

With the infant beanie and infant size socks, the wheels were turning for them. But to give them that little of extra help, I held out my phone towards them; the black and white sonogram catching their attention immediately.

“No fucking way,” Nick said.

“You’re not fucking with us, are you?” Jolly asked with a small smile.

“My name is literally right there,” I chukled while showing them the part of the sonogram where it read Y/N Sebastian.

Folio smacked his hands together while letting out a loud yelp of celebration as he all but tackled me deeper onto the couch in a vice like hug. With a fit of giggles, I wrapped my own arms around him.

“Nick! She’s fucking fragile, man,” Noah cursed while pushing him off of me to pull me into his lap, large arms wrapping around me now protectively.

I kissed his forehead. “I’m not made of glass, Noah.”

His face grew stone serious. “Yes, you are.”

My shoulders fell, knowing there was a reason he’d been so protective. Not just tonight but since we found out four months ago. Only this time, we wanted to make sure we made it past this point before telling anyone.

Jolly quickly picked up on the seriousness of our conversation but waited until a round of congratulations and hugs were had before settling back into the couch.

“How far along?” He wondered.

Now sitting curled up against Noah’s warm embrace, I sighed into his chest. “Almost five months.”

Nick’s eyes widened. “How the hell didn’t we notice?”

“She wore baggy clothes. We wanted to make sure-,” Noah’s words trailed off, unable to find the courage to finish.

“Uh,” I began while sitting straight up. “I only have a small bump so it made it easy to hide. But there’s a reason we kept it secret for so long. Before this pregnancy, we suffered through two miscarriages.”

The guys sucked in a breath while Noah stiffened next to me. Even though he was strong during those two dark times in our marriage, I knew he was doing it for me. Deep down, he suffered through those losses on his own and was still dealing with it.

“Shit,” Jolly ran a hand through his hair.

“Please don’t say the typical I’m sorry bullshit. We don’t want to hear that,” I smiled weakly. “It was hard for us but we got through it. We just want to focus on now and what the future holds for this baby. And us.”

Noah rested a hand over my bump, eyes glittering as he stared lovingly at me.

“Oh,” he said while reluctantly looking away from me over towards teh guys. “Don’t go saying shit. If Jesse doesn't find out from me, he’d be so hurt.”

“Rightfully so,” I nodded with a smirk.

That night, the game was forgotten as we all talked about the future of not only Bad Omens but also the future of its newest little member.

A soft knock sounded on the door frame behind me and I looked over my shoulder, giving a small smile to Noah. He was shirtless as he leaned up against the doorframe, eyes tired but bright with so much love and adoration. His usual Levi cut a mess on top of his head. He knew how much I loved that haircut so instead of cutting it when it got too long; he was sporting that look again.

“Why are you awake? You should be sleeping.”

Fuck, his tired voice was so sexy but at almost nine months pregnant, that was the last thing I wanted to think about. I loved my husband and our sex life was amazing but I was miserable the last month, wanting the pains in my back and hips to stop. I reminded him once or twice that he could watch that sex tape we made a few years ago.

“I can’t sleep,” I shrugged from my spot on the floor of the almost ready nursery.

An array of pieces and an instruction manual lay at my feet, something Noah eyed with a brow. “Angel, I told you I’d put the crib together in the morning. You shouldn’t be doing it by yourself.”

He sat on the floor in front of me and reached for my hands, taking away the screwdrivers and set them into the pile of tools.

“I know. I thought I could get a head start on it though,” I began cracking my knuckles.

Noah sighed as he wrapped one large hand over both of my small ones. “I hate when you do that.”

“Sorry,” I looked away from him. “Nervous habit.”

“Are you nervous for Friday?”

I nodded while finally meeting his gaze. “There’s all these risks for C-sections. What if something happens and-.”

Noah hushed my worries with a firm kiss to my lips, his tongue brushing over my bottom lips before exploring every inch of my mouth. I moaned into the kiss and rested my hands against his bare chest, nails scraping along the tattooed skin.

“We’ve already gone over all the risk factors,” Noah sighed while pulling away, resting his forehead against mine. “But it’s the only way, angel.”

With his hand over my large bump, I nodded. “I know.”

We sat like this for a long moment, enjoying the silence and solace of the nursery. It was a simple design, nothing too over the top. But we made it special with pictures of everyone that mattered to us; our family. The center picture was the one of Noah and I from that party; thatpicture.

“Noah?”

My voice broke the silence, and he gave me a small smile. “What is it?”

I blew out a shaky breath. “What if I’m not a good mom? What if I get Alzheimers like my mom did and treat our baby the way she treated me?”

These worries weighed heavy on my mind from the second we found out I was pregnant; this time. The worry if I would be a good enough mother and treat them with love and honesty; not the way my mother did for me.

All these years later after her death and I still couldn’t find it in my heart to forgive her. I might have moved on, but the pain was still buried deep, sometimes clawing its way out. There was also the fear of if I’d get Alzheimers as I got older. Noah always had the same answer; we’ll figure it out if that time comes. Let just focus on the now.

As the tears fell, Noah was quick on my side to pull me into him, us resting against the wall of the nursery.

“You’re going to be a great mom, angel. I already know that because you take care of everyone before yourself. It won’t be hard but I’m going to be with you by your side through it all. Even if you get Alzheimers, I’ll record myself telling you we’re married so you don’t forget me.”

I couldn’t stop the small giggle that fell from my lips and pressed a small kiss to his chest before gazing up at him. “It’s the hormones.”

Bullshit, his eyes shined.

“Come on,” he kissed the side of my head. “This crib isn’t going to put itself together.”

“Angel, sit down. Let me get your water for you,” Noah hissed when he saw me trying to stand from the couch.

“But-,” I spoke.

His eyes pinned me in place as he held my bottle of water in one arm and the small infant in the other. Noah’s hair was a mess and his black shirt had a few spots of spit up but none of that bothered him. Even through exhaustion, he still wore the proudest smile on his face. We returned home from the hospital a few days ago and spent that time just the three of us, finding our ways as a family.

This entire pregnancy was constant fear and worry if we’d lose our baby like we did previously. I still didn’t believe he was real until I held him; Noah’s eyes staring back up at me as our baby's name fell from my lips.

Kenji Noah Sebastian.

“Thank you,” I thanked him with a kiss as Noah handed me my water bottle.

“I love you,” he muttered against them.

“I love you too.”

The noise coming from the kitchen made us raise our brows in confusion.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to let Folio filet a fish in our kitchen?” I asked.

Noah shrugged as he gazed down at our son, a wide smile on his face as he rocked him. “He wants to cook us dinner. Let him.”

Kenji began fussing in Noah’s arms but before I could offer to feed him, Noah shot me another look. “You were up all night with him, angel.”

“Yeah but you’ve been dealing with him all day. Kenji hasn’t stopped fussing.”

Noah brushed a finger along the side of Kenji’s face, his black wedding band catching the light from above. “They have cut you through six layers of skin and had your insides moved around to give birth to our baby. You need to rest, angel.”

With a pouted lip, I held out my arms. “Can I atleast hold him while you make a bottle?”

Once Kenji was in my arms, Noah bent low to leave another kiss on my lips before retreated into the kitchen where he heard Folio and Jesse arguing about something. Tonight, we had a full house of our family who came to visit us and meet Kenji.

Jolly sat down on the couch next to me, finger immediately being grasped my Kenji’s small hand.

“Y/N, your genes didn’t even try. That’s a printed copy of Noah. You just gave birth to Noah,” Jolly smirked while making funny faces down to Kenji.

“Gee thanks, it’s not like I grew him,” I grumbled playfully.

Noah returned and sat on the other side of me, taking a now sleeping Kenji to lay him against his chest, him brushing a gentle kiss across the baby’s forehead. I smiled wide and felt my heart spread warmth all throughout my body at the sight.

Never did I think that when I first started working for Bad Omens that I would be married to the vocalist and have a child with him. Our relationship might not have been perfect in the beginning but through all the hardships of the two miscarriages and all the fights that stemmed from it, we never gave up.

As I brushed through the thick dark locks of Kenji’s hair, a mirror image to Noah, I heard a quiet sniffle next to me and realized Noah was holding back tears. They pooled at the corner of his eyes but refused to let them slip. Always the stoic one but I could see that he was running through so many emotions.

“What are you thinking about?” I questioned.

His bottom lip trembled. “Just everything. How far we’ve come. The Airbnb, the pop up event you put together, our fight where I said hurtful things to you.”

I cupped his cheek. “Please stop beating yourself up about it, Noah. All has been forgiven.”

“But I can't help but wonder what would have happened if you didn’t forgive me. Would we be sitting here together? With our son on my chest?”

Noah placed another tender kiss to Kenji’s head, who stirred in his sleep.

With his free hand, I linked our fingers together my thumb tracing over the faded angel wings tattoo.

“I think we would have found our way back to each other,” I said matter-of-factly.

That made him smile just the tiniest bit but I could tell the darkness that still held tight to him. As he blew out a breath, a few tears fell.

“The fire, I think, haunts me to this day. I know you’ve overcome your nightmares from it but I can't even let a candle burn without thinking of seeing you hang from the house.”

“I didn’t know that,” I breathed, shocked.

While I overcame the trauma from the fire, I didn’t realize Noah was still dealing with it.

“Fuck,” he sighed while running a hand over his face to brush away the tears. “I didn’t mean to get so emotional.”

I brushed away another stray tear with my finger, the wedding band catching the light from above. “It’s the lack of sleep.”

Noah agreed with a chuckle and stared down at Kenji again, who was making soft coos in his sleep. Suddenly a large smile broke out across Noah’s face, instantly brightening up the room.

“All I ever wanted was a family of my own. I made one with my friends, but you, angel,” Noah squeezed my hand. “You gave me something I don’t even have words for.”

“Hey, you helped,” I rested my head against his shoulder.

Noah laid his chin on top of my head, chest shaking with his deep breath, which did nothing to bother the sleeping baby. “But you did everything, you gave my life new meaning. Thank you. You gave me that fucking miracle, angel.”

[yourlastbraincell-kiwi]

A/N: This was a request on my Wattpad called ‘Bound to One Another’ and forgot to put it on Tumblr. I hope you enjoy it!

Also, it switches from Chase and the reader’s pov, please be aware of that, but it starts off with the reader pov!

Pairing: Chase Davenport x Reader

As far as I know, it’s got typos-

——————🧬——————

"Hey, guys!"

I said, walking over to Adam, Bree, Chase and Leo. They all greeted me with smiles and waves, while Chase pulls my to his side by my waist, and kissed my temple.

"Where we're you I've been looking everywhere for you?" Chase asked setting his chin on my head. "Yeah, he was sweated so much, it looked like it rained inside the school." Bree said, motioned to Chases shirt.

"He extremely worried that you missed the first couple of classes, but honestly, that isn't something he should be worrying about. Mr, H's class is anything, but fun." Leo said, as we all, except Chase made that one face.

"His class is in fact fun, what about the time we studied the human body, and how many different systems the body has and-"

"And that is why you don't have many friends." Adam said while Bree and Leo nodded their heads. I shake my head and look up at Chase, "It's alright, I just over slept and the traffic was so bad today. I'm lucky enough to even have made it to school." I said walked with them to our classes.

"See? Right there. I would've taken advantage of that.." Leo said and fist bumped Adam.

I rolled my eyes as they when to class and Chase pulled me aside. "You sure, you're okay?" I nod, grabbing his shoulders. "Yes, I promise you. I'm a-okay. And if anything were to..." His face gives me that really look, but I continue to talk anyway. "...Were to happen you'd know. Okay?"

He sighs and nods his head. "Alright, I gotta go to class now." I smile at him, giving him a farewell kiss, and went to class.

——————🧬——————

It was around 2:40, when I had left school, I said goodbye to my friends except Bree and told Chase, I'd call him when I got home. I usually take the bus, till I get somewhat close to my house. Then I walk the rest of the way, listening to some music, and chatting with Bree, about girl stuff before bringing the subject back to Chase and I.

"Chase was really worried about you, though. I've only ever seen him worried when, he was taking that big History Exam." She said and we both laughed a bit.

"I know, and I promised him that nothing happened, and that I'll always message, whatever the case may be, so I don't worry him."

"Good, but I better get a text too, cause being left with three boys? I love 'em, but boy can they be annoying." She said, waving as she walked home on her own.

I continue walking to my own house particularly slow today though, just to take in the scenery. That was until I saw a rustle of leaves to my right. I brushed it off as it was quite windy today, and I'd expect leaves to make some sort of movement, in windy weather.

I kept on my walk until I heard a bit of a hushed voice, and started to speed walk a bit. Something wasn't sitting right in my gut and I always listen to my gut feeling. The rustling of leaves picked up and I started to run, only to have my arm gripped tight, as making stuff fall out of my pocket, including my phone, yanking the earbuds out of my ears, with such haste.

I hissed out my clenched teeth and tried loosening my kidnappers grip on my arm, but he wouldn't budge, so I kicked the back of his knee causing his to kneel down, probably scraping his knee, and I yanked my arm and tried to run.

He grabbed my ankle, causing me to fall and hit my face on the pavement. I groan feeling my face get hot, near my eyebrow, and lower lip and some blood dripping from my nose. I turned to see him rushed as me I scrambled to my feet and, run as fast I could.

But he was faster.

I screamed her help, but it was no use, the nearest town was little ways ahead from where I was, all because I was wanted to stop and smell the bloody roses! He grabbed my by my waist and put s hand over my mouth, and I kicked and screamed trying something, ANYTHING, that could get me out of his grasp, but he tossed me in the back of his car and locked it.

I banged on the door, begging and pleaded for someone to here me, but no one was there. I eventually stopped, and slouched against the vans doors, and cried silently, eventually crying myself to sleep.

——————🧬——————

I walked back and forth, ready to rip my own hair out of my own head. "Chase, calm down maybe, she was at a friends house." Bree asked as they watched me stress out, in the middle of the hallway at school. "I already ran that probability in my head, over 12 times today and trust me she's not there."

"She said she'd call, but she hasn't and I..." I slowly turn to face my siblings. "I think somethings wrong."

We all looked at each other uneasily, before I walked quickly out the of the school, with nothing but determination on finding (Y/N). "Chase! Wait up!" "Hey! Slow down." "Where are you going?" They said running after me.

"I'm going to find her. You can either come with me, or stay here your choice." I said turning to leave, but Bree grabbed my arm. "What about class, and we all know how much you love Mr.H' class." Leo nodded and pointed at Bree, as if her statement was correct.

"I do, but finding (Y/N) is way more important then some...some...stupid class!" I walked away leaving them wide eyed with Leo's mouth agape. "Who are you? And what have you done with Chase?" He said, as they ran after me.

——————🧬——————

'Ugh...'

'What happened?'

I slowly lift my head, as my eyes fluttered open. I tried to get a look at my surroundings, but it was little blurry, and my head was throbbing. I tried lifting my hand up to feel my temples, but I realized I was bound to the wall. I tried freeing myself, but that definitely wasn't the way of doing so.

"Move, and my father will hurt you."

I looked straight ahead of me, and groaned with audible annoyance.

"Marcus.." He just smirked at me, swirling the tea in his little teacup, with a coffee stirrer. Then Douglas came up from behind Marcus and came over to me.

"Sorry to cut this...lovely conversation short, but (Y/N) is feel a little sleepy."

"What? What are you talking about-?" I asked before Douglas put me to sleep, smiling at me with mischievous eyes.

I groaned as I lifted my head again, which felt heavier then before, vision still blurred, but this time I saw things moving through my blurred eyes. I blinked more trying to clear my vision.

I had come to realize that it was Bree and Adam, we're fighting Douglas and Marcus. Whilst Leo and Chase tried freeing me, and we managed to escape and rushed to their home.

I was sat on the couch in the living room and felt extremely dizzy all of a sudden. I don't know what it could have been. Neither did anyone else, so Mr. Davenport had me stand up to do a body scan.

He stopped, looking at me with worried eyes, putting the scanner down.

"What is it? Did you figure out why I'm so dizzy?"

"I uh...I did. But you might have to stay with us for while."

"Wait, why?" I said looking at him with fury burning inside my chest. "What did they do to me?"

"Douglas has implanted a chip in your neck. A bionic chip." Big D, said looking at me with nothing but pure, guilt.

"You don’t mean…?" I said, but he nodded already know what I was going to say. I looked around at everyone before my eyes landed on Chase.

——————🧬——————

I had went to my parents house, and told them something other then the fact that I now have bionics, and now have to stay at the Davenports. Cause who's to say that they'll believe me if I told them the truth.

They eventually yet reluctantly, "believed" me and let me go. I packed some things to take with me, who knows how long I'll be there? And who knows how long it'll take me to master this newfound ability or abilities.

I stepped into the car and Mr. Davenport drove us back to his house. After I got there Chase had pulled me aside, away from everyone else.

"You have no idea how worried I was, when you didn't come to school the next day. I didn't know what to do-"

"But you found me, and I'm okay, sorta." I said with a small giggle, causing him to smile.

"I know, and now we're connected by our bionics, so we've got nothing to fret about. But I have to ask you something." I nod, feeling a little nervous in my gut area.

"After we're done with school and all. Would you like to marry me.. one day?" I open my eyes wide and look at him if he's crazy. But I quickly realize he isn't joking and I'm quick to answer him with a 'yes.'

The group cheers, high fives and hugs each other. As Chase and I share a loving kiss.

"They grow up so fast." Tasha said, as Mr. Davenport, wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I know, it's like almost yesterday, he was still wearing pull-ups." Adam said whipping his tears. I laugh as we pulled apart, Chase way too happy to even try and argue with Adam.

[anjaelle]

Aged up Dave Lizewski x reader (they're friends) were she's a villain and her dad is a bionics specialist so she has bionic abilities and her and kick-ass fight but they both get seriously injured and the next day everyone meets up at the comic store and you both noticed familiar scratches/cuts so you decide to talk about it privately but instead of getting mad you geek over eachother and end up becoming closer.

@caloetta So I changed it a little bit while keeping the same general idea. I hope you still like it.

Pairing: Post-Grad!Dave Lizewski x Villain!Reader

Warnings: Bruising & Battering, Knife Injury, Language

a/n: I had to dip into the Wiki because I could remember a lot about the character, but not as much as I thought lol

Send me requests and prompts here!

--

He caught on early that you didn't know. Beyond the mask and the sleek bionic bodysuit, he could see the telltale quirk in your eyebrow and the way you flexed your right hand in frustration.

He wanted to believe that calling your name would end the fight. But he knew your father. He knew that you didn't have a choice. It was either kill or be killed with him, and Dave was absolutely not going to kill you.

He also didn't want to die. So he had to whip out the unexpected third option: tire you out, deflect, and run like a little bitch. He felt himself getting pummeled as he blocked each of the extremely painful punches you landed onto his forearms and legs.

"Fight back!" You grunted in anger, throwing another blocked right hook, "God damn it, fight back!"

He noticed your moves getting sloppy as you struggled to understand where the fight was going. You knew he was holding back, and he knew you had something to prove. He saw an opening and took it, kicking you square in the chest and across the room. You hit a pillar and fell to the ground, struggling to get the air back into your lungs.

"Mother...fuck..." you gasped, coughing.

Worried that you were seriously injured, Dave took a step towards you with raised hands, "I'm sorry, I had to--UGH!"

A large knife flew across the room, burying itself deep in the palm of his hand with expert precision, missing every single important tendon but still deep enough to cause a LOT of bleeding.

"Gotcha, you piece of shit." You groaned, rolling over onto your back in exhaustion. Despite the protection the suit gave you, you were still new to this. It was no wonder your father let you practice the tech on someone like him. After all, who was Kick-Ass in the grand scheme of things? Low-level street vigilante? Just some guy?

He took a deep breath and pulled the knife out, letting out a string of slurred vulgarities. The knife had an intricate design on the flat of the blade, with your initials etched in just above the fancily designed handle. It looked like it was a gift from your father.

"Whoa, this is nice."

Your suit hummed as it examined your vitals and whirred to repair any damage. You grunted, "Please, shut the fuck up and go before I murder you."

His stomach flipped when you showed up for work at the shop two days later, holding your ribs and walking with a slight limp. He immediately felt the rush of guilt for kicking you into a concrete pillar, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice. The bandage wrapped around his hand and the stitches underneath were punishment enough. As you leaned up against a shelf of comics to collect yourself, you locked eyes with him and pursed your lips.

"You look like garbage," you said. And then he saw the smile creeping up on your lips when you glanced at his bandaged hand, "Whose little sister beat your ass?"

There was a beat of silence between you as he tried to figure out if you were messing with him or not.

"The same one that beat yours, apparently," he quirked an eyebrow and you briefly matched his expression before dragging your feet to the counter. You leaned in close to him, conspiratorially.

"I want my knife back," you whispered.

He shrugged nonchalantly, peeking over your shoulder to watch the customers mill through the aisles, "I feel like you should've thought about that before throwing it at me."

You plastered a laid back smile on your face as a customer approached the counter with a stack of graphic novels, and you leaned forward on your elbows.

"How did you figure it out?"

Dave absentmindedly scanned each book and placed them in the protective wrapping like it was second nature. You were bold for choosing to have this discussion in front of a civilian, but that didn't seem to surprise him. You loved dabbling in risky behavior in college. Why would anything change 5 years after you left?

"You've got a tell," he admitted, "and...c'mon. I know you like the back of my fucked up hand."

He waved his bandaged hand around for emphasis and you snorted, not feeling the least bit guilty. You were just impressed that your incredibly nerdy, overeager friend was capable of knocking the wind out of you. Ordinarily, you'd leap over the counter to the other side. But, considering the condition of your torso, you chose to take the long way. As you pathetically limped around the back to enter the back room, you could feel his eyes trailing you over the customer's head.

"Let me see." He said, shutting the backroom door behind him. You sighed as you slipped on your sneaker, rolling your eyes.

"It's not that bad."

"If it's not that bad, you'll let me see the damage."

God, he was such a boy scout sometimes. "If you wanted me to take my top off, you could just ask."

You could feel him burning holes into you as you slipped on your other shoe, and you actively avoided eye contact. In truth, he fucked you up bad. It would've been worse without the suit. The only reason you weren't mad was because you knew you got a few good licks in, too. His pretty face had a few bruises and scratches, so you could only imagine what the rest of him looked like.

"Dude..." he huffed, "Stop being a dickhead for five seconds and just show me what the fuck I did to you."

The concern was seeping into his voice and you wanted to ease his guilt. After all, he was just doing his job. It's not like you held a grudge.

You stood and lifted your shirt, exposing the black, purple, and blue bruises along your torso. He clenched his jaw.

When your father saw what Kick-Ass did, he had to be talked down from placing a hit out on him. You had to remind him that it was all a part of the job, and he needed to calm the hell down.

You also didn't want to lose one of the few friends you had.

He crossed the room in a few steps, reaching out to you in frustration.

"Jesus, I'm so sorry." But you scrunched your nose at him like he was insane.

"Why are you sorry? I beat your ass too. It's not like you got away scott free."

He hesitated and then gently ran his fingers along your tender skin to trace the outline of your brightest bruise. You suppressed a shudder, watching as he looked you over with equal parts curiosity, concern, and surprise.

"I had to take an ice bath when I got back to my apartment," he admitted, sheepishly, "I didn't even know you could fight like that."

Without warning, he lifted his shirt to show the numerous rapidly healing cuts and bruises along his very well defined torso. You were almost shocked at how far along his healing was, given the circumstances. All of that strangeness aside, you couldn't stop the exclamation that escaped your throat. It sounded like a mix of a gasp and a cough.

"When the shit did you get so ripped, Lizewski?"

He blushed a deep red. Because of course he did, the humble little bastard.

"You've seen me with my shirt off before."

"I'm sure I'd remember that if I had." You said, eyeing his injuries more closely. You noticed the distinct marks from your bionic suit, and noted that he was a lot stronger than you realized. The more you thought about it, maybe you were lucky that he liked you. You reached out to touch a yellowing bruise on his ribs.

"That's so weird," you said, "Why do your bruises look like that when mine don't."

"I dunno."

He was full of shit. But you wouldn't push.

"I still want my goddamn knife back. It's kind of important to me."

When you finally took a step back to look him over, you found him watching you with an amused look on his face.

"What?" You asked, cracking a grin.

He grinned back.

"You're just gonna have to take it from me."

[sugar-omi]

i saw *this tweet, and i had to write it.... happy valentines dayyyy🫶🫶💞💗🙈🙈

tags : NSFW, gn reader, multiple choice words/dialogue, rockstar!baxter but not mentioned so he could just be a pain in your ass, so ooc, he's a Bit toxic <333, situationship/FWB, bottom reader, (mean) dom baxter, creampie, mention of his neighbor having a crush on you, you're loud. the whole block hears you. he's getting kicked out tmrw--

synopsis : valentines day with rockstar!baxter.. as always, he butters you up and then fucks you like a dog. then showers you with gifts again in the morning <3

when he messages you a crude text about keeping the 14th open, not asking- telling you. you wanna hit him

but as he does sometimes, he ends up surprising you

when you go to his dinky studio apartment, you see he's set it up all nice for the occasion

baxter's in a three piece suit, there's rose petals everywhere (you ignore the heart he drew out of them on the bed...), candles, and he even decorated the table for dinner! he also pulls out the extra nice wine and cooks in front of you, not letting lift a single finger!

"you're my date, all you gotta do, is sit there 'n look pretty for me.."

it's a very nice start to your date, makes you forget that he's not always a gentleman, and that 97% of the time, he's giving you a headache

but somehow, you go from laughing and flirtatious looks, to cuddling on the couch...

to getting your guts rearranged on his queen bed.

he's gentlemanliness doesn't last long, because unless you grab him by the neck and take it off yourself, he ends up ripping your outfit

even if he promises to fix it or buy you two outfits, he's still a bully

mmm probably decides he wants to start the night off with you on top of him, makes you bounce on his lap and do all the work by yourself...

even if you're whining, needing his help to move your hips, he still won't give in! which is really cruel since he'd eat / rim you out within an inch of your life, helping you move is the least he could do!

don't worry though, because after you've reduced yourself to weak, shaky knees and watery eyes, your sex absolutely drooling slick / pre down your thighs / length,

he carries you to the bed and throws your legs over his shoulders, fucking you so shallow, and so deep... you can't even think because his pretty cock is grinding against your g-spot, and he's rubbing your sensitive clit / tip, smearing your arousal all over your sex

he coos at how pretty you look too, tells you how gorgeous you are split on his cock and that you look even better with your valentines day clothes all bunched up, your makeup ruined...

is he picking on you a bit? maybe.

but he does pick one of the rose petals out your hair, isn't he so nice? <3

he's still a bully though. as always.

because by the end of the night, he has you ass up and your face buried in the pillows to muffle your moans, and you're all but sob into the pillow, clutching onto the sheets trying not to hit your head against the wall

"quiet down, before my neighbors complain about the noise again"

as if he isn't the one always rearranging your guts at 3 in the morning, or sending you some obscene video of him alone in his room, showing you just how much he misses you.

pulls you against his chest and starts nibbling on your already bruised neck, purring in your ear, still jackhammering into your tight heat.

starts talking about how that neighbor is probably listening to you get fucked, how he probably hears the bed hitting the wall and your whorish moaning, and that he's probably gonna cum in his pants just hearing you cuss, stutter, and call out his name

don't bother muffling your moans, because he pries your mouth open, shoves his fingers in and fucks you harder

"don't muffle your sounds, baby. let him hear you. let the whole fucking complex hear you."

kisses your tears off your cheek, tells you you're so good, so cute

reaches between your legs, wraps his arm around your waist to stop you from squirming, leans over you until your face is buried in the pillows again and now you have no choice but to take his dick and let him stroke your clit / cock, your sex making a big mess on his cock / in his hand.

the room is filled with sounds of shlick-shlick-shlick from your wet sex and baxter's quick, rough fucking, your loud moans and whines, and baxter's headboard about to knock the wall down.

one more deep thrust is what pushes you both over the edge, your sex squirting your spend over the bed, soaking the silky sheets, and baxter finishes inside, groaning lowly into your ear...

by the end of the night you're sweaty, there's rose petals stuck to your skin, any makeup you have on is smudged and/or rubbed off onto baxter's pillowcase (at least they're black?...)

plus you're covered in bites n hickeys, cum running down your thighs..

at least he runs you a bath and massages your aching muscles, and he even buys you pancakes in the morning! and draws a heart on the stack with syrup <33

(just ignore the plan b and the teddy bear with a note reading "sorry for fucking your brains out ♥️")

also don't be too embarrassed when you do the walk of shame out his house, just... try not to make eye contact with that aforementioned neighbor who is blushing bright red when he sees you, or the scandalized grandma... at least he's driving you home so you don't have to walk back in his clothes, looking like you just got the best dicking of your life

[poursomesunaonme]

hello my sweetest beanie. congrats on your milestone!! i love your event idea so much 💕may i request a sakusa drabble for your event?

he loves to use ‘darling’ as a pet name but also can be so sarcastic about it. which makes me think of him as the king of the meet ugly

i’m thinking “itch” as the lyrics and whatever strikes your fancy with sfw/nsfw. thank you bb 💐

GOD I OVE HIM SO MUCH TY PHON !!

cw: friends to lovers, mention of ushiten hehe, smooch, black jackals cameos

"although i'm oversaturated / know i'm earnest too / and i know i'm eager / but i can't fucking wait for the day that i finally get to kiss you"

“c’mon, c’mon.” tendo’s in the same boat as you, just rooting for the opposite team. you ignore the red-haired man’s pleas, watching intently as kiyoomi swiftly takes position as the ball makes it to the setter. it’s a perfect pass.

the ball flies straight into kiyoomi’s hand, and with a practiced ease, he lands the hit right in between the players in the back line. the entire crowd jumps up to cheer. from the corner of your eye, you see satori slump down as his boyfriend’s team loses, but you can’t console him now, not when your best friend just won one of the biggest games of his life.

you sprint down the stands, careful not to lose your balance in all the excitement. you know that he had to meet with his team first, debrief and all that, but you couldn’t wait to meet him in the spot he said that he would be after the game, win or lose. you fiddle with the hem of your shirt—a copy of his jersey that he told you to please not get because it’s embarrasing, but you did it anyway. that’s what friends are for, after all.

you hear a rowdy crowd from behind the main doors and suddenly, they burst open, revealing the tangerine head and the legendary setter. they scurry off after waving to you, knowing that you’re kiyoomi’s friend. teammate after teammate file out, but no sight of him. you begin to let out a sigh, but your breath stops as soon as he steps out as the last of his team.

his mask just hands barely underneath his nose when his eyes flit around the scene, landing on you. the corners of his eyes crinkle in a smile that’s conveniently hidden behind his mask as he walks over to you. his pace is slow, and you quickly close the distance by sprinting up to him and nearly jumping on him to give him a massive hug.

“congrats!” you all but shriek into his ear, wrapping your arms around his neck. “i’m… i’m so proud of you.”

the tops of his cheeks redden from above his mask as his eyes flicker away when he grumbles a thank you, but wraps his arms around your waist. the hug is brief, as he doesn’t enjoy too much physicality with anyone, but his hands stay on your hips when you pull back, knowing his boundaries. he looks down at you, then pulls his mask off his ear to reveal a small, proud smile.

“thank you,” he says a little louder, the adrenaline of the game still pumping through him too much for him to keep up a stoic appearance. “thanks for being here.”

“i don’t think satori would’ve let me miss the game,” you breathe, your hands still around his neck. you don’t want to let go, even if he’s sweaty. “but i wouldn’t have missed it for-”

you’re effectively interrupted by his lips crashing into yours. you make a small sound against him, but dont draw away. instead, your grips tighten on each other. everything else melts away, even his teammates turning around to see his the way your jaw hangs open to let his tongue explore your mouth.

“damn, oomi!” atsumu calls before shoyo shoves him out of the door. you pull away from each other as that, kiyoomi’s eyes shining as he looks down on you.

“let’s… let’s get dinner tonight, yeah, sweetheart?”

submissions for the promised event are now closed but you can still click here to go to the nav page

© all work belongs to poursomesunaonme. do not copy and repost.

[naughtyneganjdm]

On the Run - Chapter 6

Summary: After Joel has time to think about the conversation he shared with Y/N, he goes off after her only to discover she is missing. Together with Negan they try to find her.

Characters: Joel Miller (The Last of Us), Negan (The Walking Dead), the reader (OC, third person), etc.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47007172/chapters/119587423

Warnings: Swearing, severe angst, etc.

Guilt was one of the strongest motivators in making a decision and right now, guilt was eating away at Joel as he sat alone in his room after his discussion with Y/N. Letting the whole situation linger and thinking about all that took place in such a short amount of time was really weighing heavy on Joel. Everything he said could have been done better and he knew that. Having Y/N run out of here crying made sense the longer he thought about things. Everything she learned today was a lot to throw on one single person. First, she learned about the million-dollar bounty on her head because of her father. After breaking down she returned to Joel’s room to hear him call her ‘not the one’ when he was talking to Sarah. That would hurt anyone. Also knowing that he was considering leaving her to be with his family had crushed her. Rough was an understatement when it came to her life. At this point, he wished he could just shut his feelings down for her, but he felt bad for everything he did and said. When it came down to it, Joel was only making the decisions he was because of Tommy and Sarah. While he found himself comfortable with Y/N, he knew that if he were to get with her his family would always be at risk with someone always looking to hurt her father. And he couldn’t have that.

So much was going on in his mind and he couldn’t focus on one thing. Sighing loudly, Joel looked over his shoulder behind him at the bed. He remembered what it was like to be lying in bed with her earlier enjoying the comfort he got from it. Over the last few days they really had gotten closer than they ever had with one another. During that time Joel did think maybe something more could come from their relationship, but it took Bill saying what he did to reassure Joel that nothing could exist between the two of them. Yet, those feelings he had developed for her were still lingering. Groaning out, he got up from the bed. Trying to talk himself out of this, he knew that it would only lead to negativity, but he couldn’t just sit here. Heading over toward the door, Joel knew that he had to talk things out with Y/N. While he knew she was sad, he needed her to understand that his decision wasn’t made because of her. Having her think that it was because of her and not his family bothered him. Before he could reach the door, it pushed open almost hitting him in the process with it when Negan was revealed behind the door.

“Hey, where is Y/N?” Negan questioned looking beyond Joel to survey the empty motel room.

“I don’t know, I was about to go looking for her too,” Joel responded pointing beyond Negan toward the outside. “If she’s not out there taking a breather and she’s not with you, she’s probably with Poppy or alone in her room to get some air.”

“Did something happen?” Negan inquired noticing the expression that was over Joel’s face. Sure, they were in a tense situation, but it seemed like something else was going on. The expression Joel gave Negan when he asked only further told him something was up. “What happened?”

“I’m sorry Negan, but it’s really none of your business,” Joel explained going to move around Negan only for Negan to put his arm up and press his palm firmly against the wall making Joel huff when Negan trapped him in his room. Looking down at Negan’s arm, Joel tried to count to himself so he wouldn’t end up erupting on Negan for what he was doing. “Negan, you’re hurt. If someone were to do this to me in general, I would have punched them.”

“What did you do?” Negan demanded of an answer making Joel roll his eyes and step back to gaze over Negan.

“I told my daughter that I wasn’t ready for a relationship and Y/N wasn’t the one,” Joel was honest watching Negan’s arm slowly sliding down. Even though it was none of Negan’s business, Joel was going to be honest with Negan since he was sure Negan would find out eventually anyways. Better to hear the truth from him. “I’m also considering leaving and going to Bill’s. You heard Bill. Bill said the three of us aren’t on the bounty. It’s just her. I can go pick Tommy and Sarah up from Rick’s. I can be with my family where I am meant to be. Together, we’ll go to Bill’s so I can keep them safe.”

“Okay, now I get it,” Negan frowned stepping away from the door. Rubbing his hand over the back of his neck, Negan knew that Y/N was going to be emotional after hearing all of that. Looking over his shoulder, he knew that the thing Y/N would need the most right now was support from someone who would understand what she was going through. “I guess I should go find her.”

“That’s what I was about to do,” Joel went to move beyond Negan again, but Negan stopped him. Clenching his fists at his side, Joel was having a hard time keeping his anger in with Negan using his height over him to keep Joel from leaving the room. “Listen, don’t be a judgmental dick. I’m not a piece of shit for wanting to put my daughter first. Okay? I like Y/N, I do. I think we both know that, but when it comes to this situation, my daughter comes first. I can’t have her be with Rick Grimes forever. I can’t continue to be on the run.”

“I don’t disagree with you,” Negan held his hand up in the air trying to get Joel to turn down the anger that he had toward Negan. “I do think your daughter should come first. Children always should. I would question you if you weren’t putting your daughter first. I just don’t think it’s for the best that you try to talk to her because you’re just going to upset her more.”

“Mind your own business,” Joel shoved into Negan forcing his way out of the room hearing Negan following him not far behind as they went toward her motel room. Looking inside the window at the front Joel could see that her room was dark on the inside. Gazing through the blinds, Joel looked closely just to make sure that she wasn’t in there before heading over toward Poppy’s room to knock on the door. Having Negan following him not far behind was infuriating Joel at this point. “I can do this on my own.”

“Listen, I’m doing my best to understand your situation and I want to. I really do. I think you’ve been a bit of a dick over the last two years, but I can see you’re trying to make up for it,” Negan started hearing Joel grumble something under his breath before turning to face Negan with a glare. “I just think sometimes you just let shit flow when you are trying to explain yourself and sometimes you hurt people more.”

“Don’t lecture me about being a dick,” Joel grunted, his brown eyes narrowing while staring out at Negan. “Not after what we learned about you today.”

“What the fuck are you trying to say?” Negan’s eyebrows furrowed, the annoyance in his face growing when he stepped in closer to the smaller man.

“I’m saying you play off this woe is me I loved my wife more than life itself and you were cheating on her with her best friend. Do you know how fucked up that is?” Joel snarled at Negan seeing the expression change in Negan’s hazel eyes. Originally, Negan was attempting to be understanding with Joel, but right now Joel could see rage flooding into Negan’s features. “You’re a fucking loser Negan. And you have a power trip because you have a powerful job.”

“What you heard today was none of your business,” Negan emphasized his words closing the distance between him and Joel to the point where the warmth of his breath was felt over Joel’s face. “I don’t have to explain shit to you. I did and I do love my wife more than anything in the world. I had issues. I felt pathetic for losing my job. For letting her down and for just being an overall fuck up. We were trying to get pregnant and we couldn’t. I thought it was my fault because I thought I was sterile. I didn’t realize that Lucille was sick and the problem was never me. I did something fucking awful because I felt shitty about myself. I know it was wrong. But I gave that shit up and turned my life around for Lucille because she was everything to me.”

“Once a cheater, always a cheater,” Joel rolled his eyes and went to turn away only to feel Negan shove him firmly making Joel stumble back. Moving forward, Joel pushed into the center of Negan’s chest doing his best to avoid the gunshot that was healing on Negan’s shoulder to return the gesture that Negan had given him.

“You’re ex-wife cheated on you, huh?” Negan bobbed his head about, his jaw clenching while he felt his fists curling at his sides seeing the smaller man before him angry as well. “Yeah, people that do that fucking suck. I was a piece of shit. And I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like to be on the other side of things. But you didn’t have to become a cold ass prick because your ex cheated on you.”

“I’m not a cold ass prick,” Joel repeated what Negan said and Joel stood tall hating that he even involved Negan in on this in the first place. “Yeah, she did cheat, but it was good that she abandoned us because she was abusive. Not only to herself, but to us too. But I’m not a bad person because of it.”

“Joel, come on,” Negan grumbled, his jaw clenching when he thought about the things that Joel had pulled on Y/N. “Do you know how fucking awful it is that Y/N tells you constantly how much she loves you and you fucking blow it off every fucking time?”

“How does that make me a bad person? Would you rather me lie to her?” Joel demanded an answer seeing Negan step back and look him over. “I don’t know what love feels like Negan. I was with my wife and I thought I loved her, but she abandoned both Sarah and me. I know I love my daughter, but I don’t think I’m capable of loving someone in a romantic sense. I care about Y/N. I feel deeply for her. But I just can’t say that because I don’t feel it. And even if I did feel it, what good would it do in this situation?”

“Wow, you’re something else,” Negan rolled his eyes and shook his head when he went to knock on Poppy’s door again, but Joel pulled him back only to shove him again. “I don’t want to fight with you. Believe it or not, while I hate you for what you did to Y/N I don’t dislike you. If you fucking hate me, hate me. I don’t care. But I don’t want to fucking fight with you.”

“Boys?” Poppy’s voice stammered after she saw Joel’s expression softening. It had been a while that she had been standing there at the door, she just didn’t know how to respond considering they were fighting. “What can I do for you?”

“Is Y/N in there?” Joel cleared his throat after taking a minute to think about what Negan had just said to him. All the time they had been spending together Joel was certain that Negan hated him, so to hear that Negan didn’t dislike him just surprised him.

“I thought she would be with you since she’s been loving your cuddling for the last few days Joel,” Poppy responded pushing her door open enough to show that her room was empty with just her in it. Her comment made Joel feel bad as he lowered his head and sighed. “Is she in her room?”

“I looked and it was dark,” Joel answered seeing Poppy motion them to wait. Grabbing her nail file, she managed to go over to Y/N’s room and pop the lock. Joel gave her an impressed expression before moving into the room. “Nice.”

“I know my way around things,” she retorted as her and Negan followed Joel into the room to look to make sure it was in fact empty. “Where is she?”

“I have the keys so she couldn’t have left,” Joel informed them reaching for the keys from his pocket. The SUV was still in the parking lot. They split up and walked around the building along with checking in at the office to see if she was there. And she wasn’t. When they gathered back Joel felt his heart racing. “Where the fuck is she?”

“She told me she was hungry and wanted me to get her something to eat, but you know that there is nothing in walking distance to get something to eat, she just…” Negan began hearing the sound of booming music fill the air making all three of them jump. Looking in the distance they saw that the night club was starting to fill up and Negan sighed. “We need to go check there. It’s the only thing within walking distance.”

“And what if we can’t find her?” Poppy seemed desperate for an answer and it was clear that all of them were worried with her missing, nowhere to be found. “What if someone took her?”

“How would they know where she is?” Joel looked to Negan expecting some kind of answer from him and Negan threw his hands up in the air. “We don’t have cell phones, we’ve been driving the back roads. We’ve only really gone into small towns. We don’t tell people where we are.”

“No one has followed us,” Negan reminded them, folding his arms out in front of his chest. “We’re multiple states from where we started off. Across the fucking country. I don’t know how anyone would know where we are. Let’s just go search the nightclub and see if we can find her.”

Walking toward the nightclub, Joel let out a discomforted breath when he approached it. The last thing he liked to begin with was being in big groups of people. Joel was a loner and he hated these kind of places from the beginning. So the fact he was being forced to search it bothered him. As they all went to walk in, Joel felt the bouncer pressing his hand firmly into the center of Joel’s chest after Poppy entered. That was the second person today that used force to keep him from either leaving or going in somewhere and he felt like he was about to erupt.

“Ladies get in free, the two of you need to pay,” the bouncer demanded of both Negan and Joel showing the sign that was on the door. Fumbling for his wallet, Joel dug for it and then pulled out the money for both him and Negan to get in. Poppy had been waiting for them at the front dancing along to the exceedingly loud music that was booming throughout the building. Lights were flashing and they were bright making Joel lift his hand up to block his eyes.

“I’ll check the bar, Joel you circle around the outside and Poppy you check the middle and the bathroom,” Negan commanded of the two of them looking to his watch that was on his wrist. “If you don’t find her in fifteen minutes, we can meet back at the bar together then circle back around.”

Without question Joel and Poppy did what Negan asked of them. Gazing around the area that he was in, Negan couldn’t believe how many people were actually there considering there were in the middle of nowhere right now. Pushing through the crowd made Negan think of his younger years and it made him feel uncomfortable. It was hot and suffocating with everyone on top of each other. People were dancing and he could tell that folks were just out to have a good time. But this was the last place any of them, well, except for maybe Poppy wanted to be right now.

Once he got to the bar, Negan’s eyes looked over each person inspecting them carefully to see if Y/N was there. The bar was busy and people were loud trying to overtalk the music that was hard to really hear over. Heading toward the edge of the bar, Negan let out an exhausted exhale when his eyes fell upon Y/N at the end of the bar. In front of her it looked like she had gotten herself a drink. Stepping around the crowd of people, he moved into the seat beside her and wondered if she would even realize that it was him because she seemed so lost in herself.

“Want to go in the back and get frisky?” Negan leaned in to speak in her ear making Y/N turn to look at him. Knowing that his voice was very unique, it had to register with her that it was him almost immediately.

“Funny,” she muttered with a shake of her head and she downed the rest of the alcoholic drink before waving on the bartender to get her another one of whatever she was drinking.

“You do realize that you are taking pain medication right now, right?” Negan reminded her when the bartender filled up her glass. Reaching for the glass once the bartender left, Negan moved the glass to keep it from her. “You’re gonna hurt yourself if you keep doing that.”

“Negan, I have a bounty on my head. I’m going to die anyways, so I might as well go out doing something worth it,” she outstretched her arm trying to grab the drink from him, but he blocked her from being able to get it and it made her huff loudly. “What the fuck does it matter Negan? I’m just going to fucking die and there is nothing to live for.”

“Knock it off,” Negan demanded of her making her jaw flex when she leaned back and sat down on her seat fully. Anger flooded Negan’s eyes and she knew that face well. Many times Negan had scolded her so it wasn’t the first time she had seen it. “There is a lot to live for.”

“What Negan? What is there to live for?” she begged him for an answer feeling exceedingly overwhelmed with what was going on since her birthday. “I have a bounty on my head that is fucking huge. My father, who is likely to blame for pissing someone off doesn’t even give a flying fuck that it is happening to me. In fact he would probably give someone one million dollars just for killing me. Joel is leaving. Bill gave him an out and he’s taking it.”

“So what?” Negan pushed making her face twist with upset. Throwing his arms up in the air, Negan pushed the glass further down the bar for someone else to get the drink. “I know that you love Joel and it feels like it is the end of the fucking world, but it’s not. Joel is just a moment in your life and he’s not worth killing yourself over.”

“You heard Bill. The three of you aren’t in on the bounty. They just want me Negan,” she recounted what they had heard earlier in the night. “The three of you are just going to leave and I’ll be on my own. I’m going to die Negan.”

“You’re never going to be on your own,” Negan hushed her when he raised his hand up in the air. Everything was very much overwhelming. He hated that he was screaming while talking to her, but it was the only way for them to interact in this damn nightclub. “I’m never leaving you. Ever.”

“You don’t have to die for me Negan,” she went to get up, but Negan reached out to place his hand in over her shoulder to keep her there.

“I don’t think you understand. At this point you are the only thing in my life that keeps me here,” Negan snapped, his eyes hooked with hers making her lips part. Feeling the ache at the center of his chest, Negan shook his head and inhaled deeply. “Everything that meant something in my life is gone. The only thing I have left that I care for is you. I can’t lose you. Losing you means there is nothing left for me here so I will protect you with everything I am. Why can’t you fucking understand that?”

“Negan,” she could see that his eyes were tearing over before her. The lump in her throat grew with the guilt she felt hearing that from him. Lowering her head, she slid in closer to him at the bar and shrugged her shoulders. “So it’s just going to be the two of us, huh?”

“If it has to be,” Negan responded with a determined expression. There was something lingering in her eyes and he could tell that she wanted to say something, but she was really thinking it out.

“So you were a high school teacher, huh?” Y/N wondered thinking back on the things that Bill said about Negan when they were on the phone with him. Mentioning that made the vein in Negan’s neck become more prominent and he nodded. “I can see it.”

“You can?” Negan looked over his shoulder to see her nod while she stroked her fingers over the top of the bar top.

“I can. I would have loved you to be my physical education teacher when I was in high school,” she commented, her eyes raising enough to make him roll his eyes in response to her smart remark. “I would have failed many times just so I could take your classes over again.”

“Shut up,” Negan scoffed, pushing at her arm faintly making her half laugh. “I loved that job. Believe it or not. It felt nice having the kids looking up to me. And it was nice helping them…putting them on their paths to make their lives better. I just fucked up. I have a short temper. I was with Lucille at this bar. We were listening to our favorite song. And this guy was being really loud. I think you knew Lucille enough to know that she was, well mouthy and stood up for herself. Got into it with this guy and he started calling her names. I’m not a man that likes the kind of names he was using, especially when it was my own wife and I erupted on him when he started getting in her face aggressively. I beat the shit out of him. And even when he was down, I kept beating on him. After that, I grabbed his wallet off of him. Took a dollar from him and then played our song twice. Unfortunately, the guy was the father of one of the students at the school I worked, so I lost my job after he threw a shitfit. I was put on probation and well, the rest is history.”

“You were just defending your wife and I think that’s honorable if you ask me,” Y/N gave her input on the situation, her throat going dry while she saw the internal war that was going on inside of Negan. “I wish that never happened to you. You had a job that made you happy and then you got stuck with me. You didn’t deserve that.”

“I put myself in the situation that I did,” Negan claimed with a shake of his head looking around at the people that were there in the club. In that place, Y/N and Negan were no one to these people. They were just two strangers in the crowd and he knew that, but he wished the two of them were alone for this discussion. “It’s my own fault.”

“Can I ask you something personal?” she muttered feeling a tension inside of her body that she couldn’t really describe. Maybe it was an intense jealousy or just hurt from all the things building up today. Nodding, Negan gave her the okay, but she could tell by his body language that he was uncomfortable. “What is it about me that is not desirable?”

“What do you mean?” Negan stammered, not expecting that kind of question from her.

“I mean there has to be something wrong with me. Right? Two years I spent on this relationship with Joel. I thought we were dating, I thought I meant something to him and I don’t,” she stressed her feelings about her relationship with the man that she was in love with. “But if what Bill said is true about you and…Janine,” once Y/N said that name it made Negan tense up and he forced himself to look away from her, “then that means there was something wrong with me too when it comes to you.”

“I don’t understand,” Negan’s throat was dry, the muscles in his body tense with uneasiness. “What do you mean?”

“It means you’ve been my bodyguard for quite some time Negan. You would have been around me when you had your affair and you knew how I felt about you,” she reminded him finally getting him to look at her when she reached out to place her hand in over his shoulder. Sadness filled Negan’s features and knew that he wasn’t happy talking about what he had obviously done. “Why did you have an affair with that woman when you knew how I felt about you? I was right there.”

“I didn’t plan on having an affair. Lucille and I were just fighting…” Negan thought back on his relationship with his wife making him sigh loudly. “Janine acted like she was coming over one day to talk to Lucille who wasn’t there and she made a move on me. I was so drunk that I just didn’t tell her no. Then it just kept happening. It was a moment of weakness on my end Y/N. It should have never happened. But it did. And for what I did I deserved to get my ass kicked. I loved Lucille more than anything and I still did that to her. I’m a horrible piece of shit. I always told you I was.”

“I get that, but you knew I was there and interested,” she might have been whining a bit and it wouldn’t make sense to most people, but all she could think about is how badly she wanted Negan previously.

“Because Janine meant nothing to me,” Negan responded, his jaw flexed with discomfort with his lips parting. “It was an affair that had no connection. No love. No feelings. I didn’t even like her. But with you, it would have been emotional. It would have been a love affair. And even though it doesn’t make sense it would have been worse for me to do.”

“You’re right. That doesn’t make sense to me,” she shook her head trying to put two and two together. “A love affair?”

“It probably doesn’t make sense,” Negan threw his hands up, his words coming out slow and unsure. “Having an affair with someone that I felt nothing for felt less harmful than having an affair with someone that I cared greatly for. Janine was my only mistake. But if I started an affair with you, it would have been the worst possible thing for my marriage because I did have feelings for you. And I was in love with my wife Y/N. If I acted on my emotions toward you, it could have gone horribly wrong for my marriage. I didn’t want to have an affair. I don’t even know why I kept it up. Both you and Lucille deserved much better than me.”

“I just think I’m incredibly undesirable,” she insisted hearing the music getting louder and she regretted coming here. This was something she would have done as a teenager. Not now. This wasn’t where she belonged. “The two men I’ve felt the most for in my life both never wanted anything to do with me. For you I was young and immature, for him…”

“I’m incredibly immature,” Negan snorted, his eyebrow arching in a moment of curiosity. “You heard what Bill said about me. I’m maybe visually desirable, but I’m a bit of a shit with an immature personality. My humor is that of a teenage boy. I’m the undesirable one. You have to understand that. Plus, if you would have been the person I had an affair with, I would have ended up hurting you at the time because I did love Lucille. With everything that I was. Lucille was the one person who stood with me my whole life. Supported me. Lifted me up when it should have been me lifting her up. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“But…” she went to say something more only to feel a pair of hands over her shoulders making her jump. Gazing back, she saw that Poppy was behind her with Joel approaching and pushing through the crowd interrupting her conversation with Negan. They always had the worst timing with these things. While she understood that Negan didn’t want to have an affair to begin with, she was shocked to know that she had these feelings for so long with Negan, but he had an affair with someone else when he was married.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Joel spoke up once he reached the bar making a chill flood throughout her veins with the way she felt like she was being scolded by him. Having Negan tell her off? Now that was something she was used to. But Joel? That wasn’t something she wanted to hear. “Why would you run off like that in the situation that we are in?”

“I wasn’t thinking clearly,” Y/N spoke up, avoiding eye contact with Joel when he moved in beside her. “I need to get away and I just saw the lights. We’re in the middle of nowhere. No one is going to know who I am. I needed a drink.”

“You’re drinking while on your medication?” Joel inquired, his chocolate brown eyes suddenly becoming worried upon hearing that. Both Negan and Joel hopped on that one which made her feel like she was being parented in a way by both men. “Why would you do that? You know that can hurt you.”

“Joel, babe. Bring it down a notch. I’ve done that plenty of times and I’m still here,” Poppy put her two cents in making Joel stare her down. It was obvious that Joel thought Poppy was a mess so her example was not going to be much evidence and proof for Joel. “Sometimes we all just need a moment to have a meltdown. I just wish you would have told me first so I could be here with you.”

“I feel like I’m a bother to everyone Poppy,” Y/N alerted her friend, turning on her chair so she could be more focused on talking to her. Everything was so hard to process over the last few hours and she didn’t know where to start with telling Poppy. Taking a glance to her right to see Negan and then to her left to see Joel, Y/N simply just shrugged. “The three of us spoke to Bill. He told us that I have a million-dollar bounty on my head. He also said that you, Joel and Negan were not part of the bounty. So you can leave. You don’t have to be here with me anymore because you will be safer if you’re no longer here.”

After hearing that, Poppy’s head lowered. Contemplation flooded her features and Y/N didn’t know what to say while her friend took her time to think about things before finally responding, “Why would I leave you?”

“What do you mean?” Y/N questioned, her throat tightening up when Poppy stepped in closer to her. “You’re going to be safer if you’re not around me Poppy.”

“What do I have back home Y/N? There’s nothing for me,” Poppy brushed her blonde hair back over her shoulder when she pushed between Y/N and Joel so she was closer to her friend. “I’m not going to get a big job. My grades are poor. I’m barely passing with my classes. I’m lucky I’m getting my degree to begin with. My family is always away. At least here I’m with someone I care about. And you should never be alone. Not with all of this going on. Being with you the last few days is the biggest adventure I’ve had in my life. I’ve always been a fuck up anyways. So we can just be runaways together.”

Hearing that must have made Y/N’s expression change because Poppy stepped forward to wrap her up in a big hug. Accepting the gesture, Y/N closed her eyes and felt guilty. Knowing that these three were all in this because of her to begin with made her feel bad. That’s all she felt lately was undeniable guilt and upset.

“How about a drink?” Poppy pulled back with a big smile.

“No,” Negan grumbled with a shake of his head making Poppy groan. “You can have one, but she’s not. Not with the medication.”

“You’re such a stick in the mud,” Poppy moved around Y/N over toward Negan so she could get the bartender’s attention in order to get herself a drink.

“Hey,” Joel called out, his fingers curling around Y/N’s upper arm to pull her to him while Poppy started up a conversation with Negan who looked like he wished he could have been anywhere else right now. “I know what I said upset you, but I wish you understood that this whole thing isn’t about you. There isn’t a problem with you.”

“But there is,” Y/N countered feeling her heart hammering inside of her chest with the way that Joel was looking at her. Being upset lately was just something she was used to with Joel and it sucked. But this time he felt bad about things. She could see that. “My blood is dirty. And someone like you can’t be with someone like me.”

“All of this is about Sarah. Not because of your father,” Joel tried to assure her, but he could tell that she was lost in the pain of the idea of not being able to be with him. “I’m telling you that if things were different, I would want to be with you. I mean it when I say that.”

“It’s easy to say something when you can’t follow through with it,” she scoffed back making Joel frown. It looked like he went to say something, but he got caught up in his thoughts. Expressing his feelings and emotions was something Joel was never very good at.

“Oh! My! God!” Poppy exclaimed so entirely loud that it made both Y/N and Joel jump. Which was surprising since it was so damn loud in the club to begin with. “I love this song! I love it so much. Come dance with me Y/N.”

“Poppy, I really don’t want to dance right now,” Y/N denied her friend of that making Poppy frown after hopping up from her chair and trying to drag Y/N away. “I’m serious Poppy. I’m sorry, I just can’t. Not right now.”

“Someone has to dance with me,” Poppy pouted looking between the three of them. Outstretching her arms, Poppy reached for Negan and grabbed a hold of his wrist. “Come on Negan. Come dance with me.”

“I’m not really a dancer like this Poppy,” Negan grumbled feeling Poppy use her strength to pull him up from the chair. “I can’t do much because of my arm. I’m not going to be much fun and I just…”

“Don’t care,” Poppy refused to listen yanking Negan toward the dance floor. Watching them from where she was seated, Y/N noticed that Negan stood frozen at the center of the dancefloor while Poppy started dancing in front of him.

“He doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb,” Joel chortled from beside her, sweeping his thumb in over her shoulder to get her attention focused on him again. Sadness was still there from everything that happened and he shook his head. “I really wish you wouldn’t allow this to hurt you as much as it has.”

“I’m in love with you Joel. How is this whole thing not supposed to upset me?” she pushed turning in her chair to face him. “Even though this whole thing is awful, for once I thought maybe something good was coming out of it with you. We were getting closer and for once I felt protected by you. Wanted. It felt like there was something more there.”

“There is something here between us,” Joel pointed back and forth between the two of them. “I just have a daughter. A daughter that is my whole world and I can’t let the last time I see her be when I left to go to your party Y/N. I have to keep her safe. If I wasn’t a dad, I would have happily considered starting a relationship with you.”

“You’re saying this to make me feel better,” she reiterated what she believed making Joel frustrated with how she viewed this situation. “The angry mind often speaks the highest truth. When you were angry, you thought I was trash just like my father, Joel.”

“I don’t think that. I apologized and I meant that,” Joel emphasized his words getting frustrated with the way she was thinking. “I know it’s hard to see outside of yourself right now, but you’re not the only person that is going through something here.”

“No shit Joel,” she snapped at him, standing up from the chair and pushing into his shoulders making him stumble backwards. “I just happen to be the one that has a bounty on her head that people want to kill. So please excuse me if I’m a bit self-centered in thinking about how I’m probably going to fucking die soon.”

“Y/N,” Joel groaned seeing her storming off into the crowd. Following after her, Joel tried to keep up, but got frustrated when he got trapped in a group of people. Pushing through them, Joel knew that she headed toward the door to leave the club and he stumbled after her. Once he got outside, he cussed out when he didn’t see her there. Walking around the club, he stopped when he saw her sitting on the curb and he huffed. “What is wrong with you? You can’t just run off like this Y/N.”

“You need to stop caring what I do,” she stressed keeping her head down to make sure that she didn’t look at him. “You don’t have to worry about me anymore Joel. I’m not your problem. I’m not your girlfriend. I’m not your lover. You don’t even have to be here anymore. You’re just going to have to stop caring.”

“I do care though,” Joel fought back, his voice rising when he found himself frustrated. “You’re being incredibly immature with this whole thing. I told you that if Sarah wasn’t around, things wouldn’t be like this. But I’m a father Y/N. You always knew that I was a father and being a father comes first.”

“I get that Joel, I really do,” she stood up from the curb, facing him and feeling her heart hammering inside of her chest. “I just thought things were headed in a different direction. After the other night with the way things were I thought maybe there was a chance that we could figure things out. Maybe I would be safe and then the two of us could be together. I could give up my connections to my father. We could have a relationship, maybe get married one day and have a family.”

Hearing that from her made Joel’s eyes narrow, his head dropping down, “That’s just impossible Y/N. I know that it’s hard to hear. I know that it makes you feel bad. With your father just being your father and this situation coming up, I see that my daughter would never truly be safe if I was with you. After all of this, I just have to put Sarah first. With Philip Blake attached to your name, Sarah would always be in peril. And I can’t do that to my daughter. For once, I have to use my brain and not my heart in this situation.”

“Wouldn’t want your potential future children to be a Blake, huh?” she swallowed down hard, her eyes tearing over at the idea of the loss of a future she longed for with Joel.

“It has nothing to do with that! How many times do I have to tell you what is going on?” Joel fumed getting more upset that she wasn’t listening to him. “Please, I know that you’re feeling bad and I get it, but life doesn’t have to end with me.”

“I love you!” she shouted at him making his jaw clench. “I love you, so it hurts.”

“You love the idea of me,” Joel responded, his voice quiet when he stood before her. It took a minute for her to register what he had actually just said.

“What is that supposed to mean?” she didn’t get what he was saying and she gazed over toward the club again knowing that she wished she was anywhere but here with him right now. “You’re going to leave, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know,” Joel muttered, stroking his palm down over the front of his face.

“Don’t fucking lie,” she moved forward to shove into him again. Today Joel had lost count of how many times had been shoved. “I know you’re going to leave. You just feel bad about everything. You’re going to leave the second you get the chance. Just be honest about it and stop beating around the bush.”

“Fine, yes. I’m leaving,” Joel grabbed a hold of her after she pushed him again. “Tomorrow morning, I’m going to talk things out with Negan. Find out what he’s going to do with you and I’m going to go get my family from Rick Grimes. I’m going to take them to Bill’s and that’s what I’m doing. Does it make you feel better to know that?”

“Just leave now then,” she instructed pointing toward the motel. “There is no reason for you to stay. Get the fuck out of here Joel. No one means anything to you anyways. You’re just going to leave here and never see me again. Never fucking talk to me again and I won’t even be a blip on your radar.”

“That’s not entirely fucking true because I’ll be with Bill trying to figure this whole thing out,” Joel corrected her, his hands settling on his hips while he shifted his feet. “I need to know who is doing this just as much as you do. And I can’t just leave. There is only one car. I can’t leave you three stranded. I also need Rick’s address from Negan. So there is a lot that I have to do before I leave.”

“Whatever Joel,” she rolled her eyes and started heading back toward the motel. Footsteps were heard and she felt herself getting angry over the whole thing. “Just stop following me!”

“Someone has to,” Joel chided while he moved more swiftly to catch up. “You can’t just pretend like everything is fine because it’s not.”

“What does it matter to you? I just want to be alone in my motel room. I don’t think that’s too much to fucking want,” she insisted, her heart hammering in her chest at the anger that she felt toward Joel. “You know, I could have been happy with someone else this whole time, but I continued to pick you.”

“Come on,” Joel grumbled trying to keep up with her when she headed toward the motel. Getting to her room, Y/N opened the door and went to go inside until Joel grabbed a hold of her wrist to stop her while they stood in the doorway together. “Is that you trying to make me jealous? Bringing Negan into this whole thing? You never wanted Negan.”

“How could I make you jealous when you’re giving me up like nothing Joel? Remember? I’m not dating you,” she spoke the words he had earlier and she felt her throat tensing up.

“You could have been with Negan from the start. I wasn’t possessive of you. We weren’t all that serious, but it wasn’t Negan that you wanted. It was me. It’s why you’re having such a huge shit fit. You love me. I’m the one that you love,” Joel quipped making her let out a broken breath thinking about things. “At the end of the day? Negan is so much better for you than I am. We both know that. Negan is not complicated. He cares about you. At the safehouse, he’s the one that almost died for you. You two are perfect for one another, but you don’t want perfect. You want complicated. You want the love of someone you didn’t think was obtainable. You can’t use Negan against me when you could have been with Negan this whole time. And Negan is a fucking fool for you. Anyone with eyes can see it, yet here you are longing for me because I’m what you can’t have. When Negan is right there in front of you. You don’t want Negan. And if you do, maybe you’re just incredibly blind to the things he does for you. I don’t know.”

Looking down, she felt her throat going dry and Joel stepped forward to cup her face in his hands. Stroking his thumbs over the sides of her face, Joel got her eyes to lock with his and he could see that she was crying, “I don’t want to hurt you. In fact I was always jealous of Negan, but I realized a while ago that it was always me you wanted. I do want you happy. I do want you safe…”

“Don’t,” Y/N felt tears burning at her eyes when Joel lowered in to try to kiss her knowing that she was getting incredibly emotional with the things that he was saying.

“I do love you,” Joel breathed, the warmth of his lips over hers making her let out a shuddering sound. Capturing her lips in a kiss, Joel kissed her with as much strength as he could. Hooking his arm around her, he stepped into her room spinning her around making her fall in closer to him. Kicking the door shut, Joel kept her body close to his. She was shaking against him and he could tell that the words he spoke shocked her. Stepping forward led her back toward the bed until she fell on top of it and he dropped down in over her. Every kiss was intense with the power of him weighing down on top of her. Kissing down over her jaw, Joel groaned when her hands found their way to his pants to unhook them. “This is incredibly hard for me because I do love you. You have to understand that. Two parts of me are at war inside of my head…”

Grunting out, Joel pulled back enough to get her pants undone. Tugging at the material, he yanked them from her body and worked to get his pants open. Pushing them down, he crawled back in over her and felt her fingers sinking into his hair. Dropping her head back, she whimpered with the way he kissed down over her neck.

Suddenly thoughts started to fill her mind. Joel felt guilty that he was leaving her upset. No matter what, Joel was still leaving her. And then she thought about the things that Joel was saying about Negan making her thought spiral out of control while she was beneath Joel. Grunting, Joel braced her thighs up and when he reached between them, she immediately pulled herself up and away from Joel.

“No,” she saw that Joel’s eyes were confused when she slid back on top of the bed, her eyes tearing over again. “Do you know how cruel it is to have you tell me you love me and then you just leave? I don’t know if you’re telling me it just to make me feel better. Or if you mean it, but you’re leaving Joel. This won’t make me feel better, it’s just going to break my heart more.”

“I just…” Joel started, reaching to pull his pants back up over his hips while he sat at the bottom of the bed staring out at her with his confused dark eyes. “I thought you would want this. If I’m leaving tomorrow, we could share one final moment together that…”

“Please, just go to your room,” she begged of him, brushing her fingers through her hair watching his lips part. Joel was breathing heavily as he stood up from the bed and she reached for one of the pillows to cover herself. “I just want to be alone.”

“I just don’t think…” Joel began showing that he didn’t know what the right thing to do was.

“Just go!” she screamed at him behind tears watching Joel swallow down hard. After thinking about it, he nodded. Grabbing her pants for her, Joel set them down on the bed and moved for the door to leave her alone.

“I’m not just saying it to say it,” Joel stopped at her door, his back still turned to her with his hand holding onto the doorknob. Slowly gazing back, Joel’s saddened expression made a breath catch in her throat. “I wouldn’t just say I love you to anyone.”

“You would if you felt guilty,” she expressed how she felt shaking her head. “I think you’re saying it because you know it’s what you think I want to hear, but you’re just saying the words to appease me. If you loved me, you would say it in the way you looked at me. You don’t mean it.”

Joel frowned, his jaw flexing when he turned toward her again and she held her hand up, “Please just leave. I want to be alone right now.”

Instead of fighting with her, Joel stood there for a moment longer before finally giving her what she wanted. The silence was deafening, but she needed it right now.

After managing to get her pants back on, she turned onto her side away from the door and closed her eyes. Hearing Joel tell her that he loved her made her think about things. At this point, she did just feel like he was saying it to make her feel better. And she appreciated the gesture, but it didn’t feel real. Not then.

It almost made her think about the things that Joel said about Negan. When Negan told her that he loved her, she never doubted it. Knowing that Joel thought her and Negan were better together almost broke her because she thought she was doing the right thing this whole time in feeling so deeply for Joel, but maybe she really was missing something this whole time with Negan. For so long Negan pushed Y/N away that she just started believing that things weren’t supposed to happen between them, but she knew that she had feelings for Negan. Negan wasn’t leaving her and abandoning her. There was no doubting that in her mind Negan was her hero.

Shifting on the bed, she heard the sound of a knock on her door and it made her sigh. Trying to ignore it, she figured that it was Joel coming back to try to apologize, but she didn’t want to hear it right now. Things were complicated enough as they were. With him leaving, she didn’t know how to feel about things.

“Babe! Open up,” Poppy’s voice called out from the other end of the room making Y/N huff. Right now she just wanted to be alone, but Poppy wasn’t someone she should be holding things against. Getting up from the bed, Y/N figured maybe talking to her friend was the only decision that was right at the moment. When the door opened, Poppy pushed into the room and she threw her hands up in the air. She was breathing heavily and could barely keep her breath. “We need to talk.”

“Are you okay?” Y/N couldn’t help but be amused seeing her friend panting like she was.

“Yeah, I just ran all the way from the club because I have to be quick,” Poppy informed Y/N, her eyes searching the room for a second to make sure that they were alone. “I need to talk to you about something. I went to talk to you at the bar and I saw that you weren’t there. Neither was Joel. So I just assumed the two of you came back here together.”

“Actually about that…” Y/N knew that Poppy didn’t exactly know about all she went through with Joel today. At the end of the day, she could really use her friend to talk to when it came to Joel and the thoughts she was having.

“Listen, I have to be quick. Negan just went to the bathroom so I ran over here to ask you something,” Poppy cut Y/N off not allowing her to have that time just to vent to her friend. It surprised Y/N having Poppy not want to really talk.

“You left Negan at the club?” Y/N took in what her friend said and let out a hesitant laugh. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I wanted to ask your permission,” Poppy led on with what she came here for making Y/N’s eyes narrow. “I know that you liked Negan in the past, but we were dancing and things felt like they were just heading in the right direction between the two of us. I’m really getting this vibe with him and I desperately want to have sex with Negan. I think we’re headed toward that and I want your permission to do that if it’s okay with you.”

“What?” Y/N hesitantly laughed making Poppy nod her head and look back toward her door. Trying to put together what Poppy was saying, she felt her heart hammering in her chest and she took in a long breath. “You think that’s something that Negan wants?”

“It seems like that’s where things are headed between the two of us. I figured with you being with Joel, maybe you would be okay with things because of that,” Poppy reasoned making Y/N’s chest ache at the thought. “You and Joel are fixing things together, you want to be with each other and I just thought that maybe it would be okay if I got to have that moment with Negan.”

Anger flooded Y/N’s veins, but she couldn’t erupt on Poppy. Poppy didn’t know that Joel told her that he was leaving and he couldn’t be with her because of this whole thing. It made her heart ache hearing that Negan wanted to be with Poppy, but at the end of the day it wasn’t her that could really give Poppy the okay.

“Poppy, if Negan wants to have sex with you, then that’s none of my business,” Y/N hated that she was saying it, but she had to be the bigger person in this situation. “If you two want to have sex, I have no say.”

“So that means you’re okay with the two of us having sex?” Poppy confirmed making Y/N tip her head to the side and look down at her feet. No, she wasn’t okay with Poppy having sex with Negan, but if that’s how things were going to be, she had no right to put her input in.

“I’m saying you don’t have to ask me,” Y/N stated knowing that she couldn’t lie and tell Poppy that she was okay with it. There was no world where she was okay with it. But if that’s what they both wanted, she couldn’t tell either one of them no.

“Okay, great,” Poppy stepped forward to press a kiss over Y/N’s cheek before quickly heading back toward the door. “I have to meet Negan back at the bar. I just wanted to ask you first to make sure it wouldn’t upset you.”

“I just…” Y/N went to say something more, but Poppy was already heading back out of her room moving hurriedly toward the club again.

Watching her friend hightail it back to where they were previously made Y/N think about how she knew she had feelings for Negan too. And with the things that Joel said, it actually confused her on how she felt for both men. Who did she love more? Maybe there was more between Y/N and Negan? When Poppy showed up, she thought Poppy would help her talk through things, but knowing that Poppy and Negan wanted to have sex together really bothered her. It shouldn’t have, but it did.

Standing at the doorway, she didn’t know what to do. Go after Poppy and stop anything from happening or just stay there and take it? Playing it out in her mind she realized that it didn’t matter what she did. She couldn’t judge Negan when she was sleeping with Joel. If being with Poppy made Negan happy, then that’s what she needed to allow to happen. There was no planet where Negan should have to sit around waiting for her to make up her mind if she wanted to be with Joel or Negan. It was wrong for her to keep him hanging.

So, ultimately, she did the adult thing and went back into her room leaving them be. Dropping down at the center of her bed, she thought about her life with Negan. Joel wasn’t wrong. Negan was always there. Even after this happened. It was Negan throwing himself in front of the line of fire for her. It was him that was killing people to keep her safe. When those people showed up at the safehouse, it was him that fought all those people. After he got shot, she was terrified at the idea of losing him. Even when Negan was having a meltdown himself earlier after Bill harassed him to the point of having a breakdown, he pushed aside his feelings and emotions to try to comfort her when she was having hers. Negan always put her first and loved her. It was unconditional love. The kind that anyone would want, yet here she was so focused on a man that couldn’t even tell her that he loved her.

Nothing would change the fact that she did love Joel. After two years, she couldn’t turn down those feelings, but what she had with Negan was real feelings. Real emotions. Yet, she just gave her friend the okay to sleep with the man she felt so deeply for. God, why did she do that? She should have been honest with Poppy.

Joel was leaving as soon as he could. That was going to leave her alone. Nothing existed between her and Joel. It broke her but knowing that she would be the third wheel with Negan and Poppy was going to be hard. Especially knowing that she had feelings for Negan. For hours she sat there wondering things out. Trying to figure out what she should and should not do.

Finally, deep into the night she heard Poppy’s door from the room that was beside hers being pushed open. It made her heart skip a beat wondering if that was Poppy and Negan together. Sounds flooded into her room with the paper-thin walls here at the motel. Poppy was kissing someone and they weren’t being quiet about what they were doing.

Shifting on the bed, jealousy ate away at her. Whatever was going on in there sounded like it was getting pretty hot and heavy. When weight dropped onto the bed, Y/N could hear it and Poppy was moaning. Deep breaths filled the air and Y/N reached for her pillow to cover her head with it. Hating this, she felt so many emotions. Sadness. Anger. Jealousy. Rage. They were all destroying her and she couldn’t stand it. When Poppy cried out and the sounds of the bedframe smacking against the wall was heard, Y/N sat up in the bed and clung to her pillow tightly. Why the hell did she give Poppy the okay for this? It was breaking her and driving her crazy.

Sitting at the bottom of the bed, she turned on the television and tried turning it up loud. Trying to block out the sounds, she knew that it wasn’t working. They were loud in the other room. The longer it lasted, the more emotional she got thinking about Joel, Negan and the feelings she was starting to realize that were very real there for her with Negan.

Turning off the television, she threw the remote across the room and got up from the bed, “Fuck this.”

Right now, the last thing she wanted to do was listen to her friend have sex with one of the men she was in love with. It was ripping her heart out and she couldn’t stand it any longer. Pulling open the door, she cussed when she heard the thunder booming as soon as she did it. Of course the weather was matching her feelings right now and she hated it.

“Goddamn it,” she closed the door as she walked outside hearing the sound of the rain starting to pour down in over them. Right now, Y/N was miserable and she hated that things were turning out like this. But there was nothing she could do. Joel was leaving her tomorrow and Negan was with Poppy.

As of today, Y/N never felt more alone in her life.

----

Tags: @jennydehavilland​​​ @ibelongtonegan​​​ @smallsadjellyfish​​​ @labyrinthofheartagrams​​​  @msjamesmarch​​​ @thebeautysurrounds​​​ @hotfornegan​​​ @redmercysugar​​​​​ @emoryhemsworth​​​ @a-girl-interupted​​​​ @akumune​​​ @stoneyggirl2​​​ @xsarcasticwriterx​​​  @insertneganhere​​​ @haleygreen23​​​ @xhannahbananax03​​​ @sanctuaryforthelost​​​ @burningredaffair​​​ @killaweiser​​​ @dead-of-niight​​​  @ayumi-wolf​​​ @hollyismentallyillhelp​​​ @tone-stark​​​ @wonwoosthetic​​​ @misskittydenoire​​​ @casangel1986​​​ @pedritosdarling​

[magicandmaybe]

gave me the blues and then purple-pink skies.

for @bowserbabe from your secret santa! hi, it's been wonderful getting to know you through the occasional asks i sent. i haven't written fanfiction before, although i do write original content soo you're going to be the first person to read this! any and all criticism is welcome, i'm just looking to start writing more from now on! i'm also super grateful for @tmsource for organizing this so i could stop putting off writing and start again! happy new year everyone:)

Teresa Lisbon was not in a good mood. This was made evident by the fact that she was pressing her thumb and index finger on her temple in a desperate attempt to soothe the headache plaguing her. With a defeated sigh, she opened her eyes and made herself look at the notes sprawled over her desk. This was going to take a while. 

~~~

The Texan humidity wasn’t doing Cho any favors. He silently cursed the faulty air conditioning in his office as he made his way to his old friend’s desk. 

“Any luck with those files?” He asked, hoping Lisbon had struck gold after they had all started reviewing the case files a few hours ago. She looked up, brows furrowed, as if there was a storm brewing right at the bridge of her nose. 

“Not yet. It looks like we’ve exhausted all our leads and the case still doesn’t make any sense,” she replied, her exasperation getting the better of her. 

The team’s morale had been at an all time low for the past few days; their latest case had left them grasping at straws for new leads. 

Cho attempted to change the subject, wondering how Abbott managed to handle days like this and still close cases while he was boss. 

“How’s the new recruit?” He asked her. 

Lisbon groaned. “Hopeless. I don’t know what he was taught at Quantico but it definitely wasn’t how to canvass an area. I had more lack sending Wylie out into the field to do his job.”

The agency has brought in someone to replace Vega a little after the incident at the diner. Both Cho and Lisbon exchanged a silent look of shared understanding. The loss of Vega had hit the team hard; in terms of both their efficiency and morale. 

Her unmatched enthusiasm was a tough act to follow, and the new recruit was far from capable. Lisbon knew that Cho had taken the loss personally, he was more hesitant now, more cautious. Vega had looked up to him and he knew it; and so he let the memory of her serve as a reminder of his duty towards the safety of his team and occasionally, the fact that she used to make him laugh. 

She had been irreplaceable but Cho still took to reassuring Lisbon. “He will learn. They all do.” He also made a mental note to have a chat with their new addition later on. 

“I know, I know,” Lisbon said impatiently; “But I still can’t get over this case. How can two seemingly unrelated people end up dead in three same place, at the same time and with the same toxins used to poison them runnjng through their blood?”

“Did forensic get back to you in the evidence found at the crime scene?” Cho asked. 

Lisbon shook her head. “A dead end. No DNA or prints at the scene. Everything was wiped clean. Toxicology is working on identify in the poison used but they say it looks like nothing they’ve ever seen before.”

Lisbon crossed her arms in annoyance. “We need fresh eyes. A new perspective. We need…” she trailed off not wanting to finish her sentence. 

“Jane.” Cho said. And there was the white elephant in the room; the unmissable Jane-sized hole at the agency. 

Lisbon had woken up one day to find her husband missing, with a note beside her saying that he had gone for a run and will catch up with her at work. He never showed up. 

She went home sick with worry only to find him by the lake with a canvas. He had been trying to paint one of the trees by the lake. 

He told her that he wanted to take a break from solving cases. So she had accepted it and they moved on. 

Except, the couch by the big, open windows remained empty and forlorn, as Lisbon and Cho looked over at it. 

“Go home.” Cho said. “Get some rest. We can start again tomorrow.” Lisbon tried protesting but was met with silence. 

~~~

The walk from the doors of the building she worked at to the nearest coffee shop was a short one, but Lisbon could feel her feet dragging behind her in defiance. Yet, it was the sight of a tuft of blond hair that led her to quicken her pace. 

“Jane?” She said in disbelief. Her husband turned, a coy smile dancing on his lips. 

“Teresa! Fancy seeing you here,” he said. 

“Oh please. You knew I was coming. Did Cho call you?”

“Well I happened to be in the neighborhood. And yes, Cho did call me. He said he was concerned.”

“Did he beg you to come back?”

“I could tell he was contemplating it.”

“And so you’ve been standing outside my favourite coffee shop for what, ten minutes?”

“Fifteen actually. Look, I bought you coffee.”

Teresa couldn’t help but smile as she plucked the he coffee cup out of his hands; and with that it felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off her shoulders. 

~~~

As she sipped her coffee, Teresa stared at his bright blue eyes. She wondered if she will ever get used to seeing them, first thing in the morning. Would she still feel time slow down every time he smiled at her or made her laugh?

Jane looked up from his cup of tea with a questioning look. 

“What?”

It took everything in Teresa to stop herself from blushing as she replied, 

“Nothing.”

All he did was smile and pull out a book from the small bag he was carrying. 

“What’s that?” She asked. 

“A book I found at the library today,” he said. He looked at the cover before declaring that it was Pride and Prejudice. 

“Austen huh. I never took you for the reading type,” Teresa said, “Let alone a romantic.”

“Why, I’m incredibly romantic,” Jane said, pretending to be deeply offended. Yet, she noted, the smile never left his eyes. 

“I saw this on your bookshelf when we visited your old house a few years ago. The spine was cracked and the pages dog eared. You must have loved it,” he said. 

She remembered spending her nights rereading her mother’s old and battered copy, hoping she would be transported to Elizabeth Bennett’s world. She had never told him that. Yet he still knew. 

“For years I’ve let Red John dictate my every move. Chasing him was my purpose,” he continues, “Until it wasn’t.” 

Jane let out a small sigh and continued looking ahead, deep in thought. 

“So, what will you do?” Teresa asked him. She would follow him to the ends of the earth if she could, fate be damned. 

Jane didn’t hesitate when he replied. He’s as sure of this as he is as sure of her. 

“Whatever I feel like doing. I’ve got time.”

He paused and looked at her with a small smile. A smile which could win the hearts of many, which he only reserves for her. 

“We’ve got time.”

[deathsplaything]

LOCATION: Outside the Good Neighbor's Meeting Place TIMING: Current PARTIES: Alistair, Daiyu (@bountyhaunter) & Vic (@natusvincere) SUMMARY: After a Good Neighbors meeting, Daiyu mentions to Alistair about swinging by The Keep, and Vic overhears and intervenes.

“I was here when the group was founded, I’ve been here since the beginning, Winnifred trusts me more than she’d trust you. And if you were to go running to her because you heard things? She’d believe me far more than she’d ever believe you.”

It had been two days since the slayer confronted him since Alistair folded so easily like they were just waiting for the opportunity to tell someone. They were a coward, and they let their hand show to their opponent. They hadn’t practiced a bit of magic since the incident. They were so lost in their head that they didn’t realize that Brutus had stopped walking, only jolting out of their racing thoughts when Brutus let out a whine and knew that it was someone that he recognized. “Oh, who is it now, bud?” Alistair half-heartedly complained, knowing that it had to be someone who had doted on him before to have him break in his walk so easily. Taking Brutus to meetings wasn’t something Alistair liked to do. It was walking into a place of nefarious people who all had their own motives and showing them all that they had a weakness in the shape of a large black lab. But even still, Winnifred had insisted they bring Brutus along, so they did. 

Alistair allowed himself to look through Brutus’s eyes, seeing the familiar face of Daiyu looking like she had a hand caught in the cookie jar. Not thinking much of it, Alistair severed the connection and frowned. “Daiyu! Was the meeting not enough for you?” They asked with an amused smirk, shifting their weight to one foot and then the other. If Daiyu were dangerous, or danger was lurking around, Brutus would alert them, so they forced themselves to relax a little. At least it wasn’t the stray vampire Alistair once knew, seeing as how that woman had Brutus eating out of the palm of her hand quite literally.

_____

She liked the Good Neighbor meetings at Winifred’s home. There was something so quaint about it, all these people coming together in the name of community. Besides, the more Daiyu surrounded herself with the ignorant humans, the more she felt for them. Plenty of them had people in their life that had gone missing or had died in what were called freak accidents or animal attacks — and they hoped to do something against it now. It was such a pure drive. It made her feel vindicated whenever she and the other insiders pulled another threat out of the equation. (It also made her feel dirty, because these humans with their pure intent had no idea about the cages, about the Keep, about the underbelly of the operation.) 

Still, she liked the meetings. She’d even brought pigs in a blanket this time, trying to match up with the other people who brought food. They weren’t as good as Nancy’s cooking, but it was something. She had also brought something else, but that was kept in her bag. More and more now, she’d been bringing rations of undead food to the Keep, having developed a system of filling ziplock bags with bits and bops of blood and flesh. She was itching to leave, even if her pigs in a blanket were a semi-hit, knowing that she’d have to deliver the aquasturge remains before they went bad.

So she was waiting awkwardly to leave, her focus on her goal only dissuaded when Brutus (the second best boy in the world) approached her. “Bruuuutey,” she cooed, her shoulders relaxing somewhat. She crouched down to scratch the dog’s ears, only paying half a mind to Alistair. “Me? Nothing too cool, unless you consider laying in bed and rewatching Buffy plans.” She rose to her full, unimpressive height. “Gotta step by …” Eyes shifted around. “The keep first, and then I’m driving home. What about you?”

____

Unable to stop from rolling their eyes at Daiyu’s plans to watch Buffy, Alistair crossed their arms over their chest as they allowed Brutus to get excited over Daiyu. Alistair may not allow themselves the luxury of friends, but that didn’t mean the same sentiment was extended to their furry companion. “He only gets like this if he’s been given excessive treats from a person,” Alistair told Daiyu with an accusatory glance towards the woman. “At least you have something planned, I guess.” They muttered, Buffy was alright. They’d seen it, of course. But they never really got into shows like that. 

Then, Daiyu spoke of the keep, and immediately they shushed her. “Keep yer mouth shut.” They snarled quietly at her, Scottish accent becoming thicker as anxiety flooded their system. “Ye cannae just go ‘round mentionin’ that,” Alistair warned her. “Secret for a bloody reason.” The hissed out before calling Brutus back to their side, and Brutus did so with a wag of his tail. 

Deciding to move on from Daiyu’s blunder of openly speaking about the keep where anyone could hear, they shook their head, letting out an exasperated sigh. “Just walking Brutus,” Alistair explained, holding up the leash. “I don’t do much, part of being ancient, and all that.” They spoke, recalling the conversation they’d had online where Daiyu had insinuated that they were old as dirt. That hurt.

__

They were caught. Not red-handed, but definitely caught. Daiyu feigned innocence, throwing up her hands. “I am not guilty! I would never give a dog excessive treats!” This was true in the case of Nugget, because he was her dog and she needed him well trained. (Trust and believe, he still got plenty of treats and belly rubs). “It’s not my fault that I always have dog treats on me and that he just … finds them …” 

Alistair switched code real quick, though, and spoke in an accent she’d only ever heard in movies. “Fuck, calm down. It’s just a word, we use it all the time. Like … we keep using it …” Daiyu grinned at her own ingenuity, but it was a bit of a show. Alistair’s words panged in her chest, reminding her of her stupidity. No matter the bravado, she was still the fool. And so she acted in accordance to it, an oppositional habit she’d never lost, “It’s not like I keep saying we’ve got vamps on lock down there.”

She let out a laugh, letting her volume grow to its usual loudness, “Ah, poor fella. Gotta take care of your ancient knees and hips, don’t you? Do be careful when you go out walking Brutus … Don’t want you to be like the lady in the commercial.” She changed her tone:  “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”

__

The more Daiyu spoke, the more irritated Alistair grew. They could put up with a lot, but her attitude just bothered them to no end. “Shut. Up.” They hissed as she mentioned vampires, having half a mind to whack her, but kept their hands to themselves through some small miracle. “Ye say these things and then someone overhears. Someone that shouldn’t overhear.” They continued, tugging on Brutus’s lead to get him to fall back in line, which Brutus did with a huff and lower of his head. 

“No, I don’t… my joints are fine, thank you.” He snarled, waving the woman away. “Seriously. If this is something you want to talk about, we can’t do it here out on the streets.” He warned her, tone becoming hushed. “Things are happening. Things we should probably talk about.” He thought to Emilio, to the slayer who had told him he was going to bring it all down. “Things you probably deserve to know.” He concluded, letting out a tired sigh. “Come on Brutus, let’s go home.” He muttered, ready to be on his way.

__

It had started with a smell.  The meeting had been uneventful enough, like they usually were.  Vic certainly thought there might be more action when she joined the Good Neighbors, but nothing was as intense as the rumors she’d heard before she’d wormed her way in.  Perhaps that was why she had taken it upon herself to make the Good Neighbors interesting and use the power they wielded to rid the community of petty crime, like using the wrong recycling bin.  Sure, it wasn’t her original intention when joining, but it sure was entertaining.

But the sweet, intoxicating smell of blood during the meeting was incredibly distracting.  It was bad enough that someone had brought pigs in a blanket (entirely distasteful, if you asked Vic), but they had to smuggle in the nectar of life, too?  They were all lucky she was extremely well-fed.  She barely contributed to the conversation at hand, and instead spent her time trying to decipher exactly where the smell was coming from.  Her focus eventually landed on the small, squirmy woman sat in the corner (she probably should have learned these people’s names months ago, but after learning the leader and her dog shared a name, she needed a break from learning for a while), and her eyes stayed on her for the rest of the meeting.  The fact that she had blood with her at all was strange- she definitely had a heartbeat, so Vic knew she had to investigate further.

As the rest of the crew scurried home, Vic stayed behind, pretending to pick at the food people had brought but watching the woman out of the corner of her eye.  When she seemed to strike up a conversation with another member (she couldn’t place their name either… perhaps she should suggest name tags next time), Vic pretended to see herself out, stopping just behind the threshold to get a good listen.  She had been far enough away to stay out of sight, but close enough that her keen hearing picked up exactly what was being said.  Keep?  Secret?... Vamps?!  This was exactly the intel she’d been waiting for- saving vampires was exactly the kind of retribution she’d been looking for when she joined the Good Neighbors?  Was this finally it?

This was definitely it, and Vic needed to jump at her chance before the two nameless secret-holders got away.  She stepped on the other side of the threshold, making herself known with a throat-clear and some partially real confidence.  “Someone’s overheard”, she said with a nod, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at the two expectantly.  She couldn’t help her prideful smirk, feeling like she’d just uncovered some buried treasure like a regular Lara Croft.  “Do you two care to share those things you were about to discuss?  Or should I sound the alarm for the rest of the meeting to come back and hear the full agenda?”

__

It was like oil on a fire, the way Alistair towered over her and hissed at her to shut up. Their anger was exhilarating and Daiyu knew, somewhere in a deep part of her, that she should not provoke the necromancer now (or perhaps ever) and certainly not in this way. But she wanted to. Sometimes it was just nice to push buttons and see how far she could go before a hammer came to fall. Would Alistair crack, if she kept yapping? “No,” she said, because she had never shut up a day in her life, especially not after being requested to do so. She gave the other a shit eating grin, then looked at Brutus. “Call me if he breaks his hip.” 

She was ready to ask the other what they were going on about when someone joined them. Her shit-eating grin turned into something awkwardly surprised, all teeth and wide eyes. “Viiiiic!,” she said, as if she was very familiar with the Good Neighbor. She wasn’t all that much, but she could pretend to. “Huh? I don’t know what you’re on about … About Alistair breaking his hip, you mean? It is quite embarrassing that his bones are this brittle, but like, it happens. That’s nature. And they are sad it will get in the way of the Good Neighbors, but it’s going to be fine, because they’re still here to contribute.” She wasn’t a good liar, but she was a good talker. And this kind of nonsense? She could fill a room with it. 

__

As soon as someone rounded the corner and was questioning them, Alistair knew that Daiyu had really gotten them into the thick of it. They closed their eyes and pinched the bridge of their nose, trying their hardest to keep themselves calm and cool, as if nothing was wrong past the fact that Daiyu didn’t know how to keep quiet about sensitive topics. They tapped their foot in annoyance, still very eager to walk off and pretend none of it was happening. “My joints are fine,” they snarled under their breath before putting on a polite smile that was directed towards the stranger who was questioning the two of them. 

“Daiyu here is very eager to push every last button that I have left, that’s all,” Alistair spoke, smiling tight and very close to breaking into a snarl. Daiyu kept going, and kept talking about how they were a burden to the group. Well, in some ways, they were. But still, it was a step too far. They wanted so badly to reach out and… and what? Smack her? Throttle her? Grab her shoulders and shake her as hard as they could. No, they had to get a hold of themselves. 

Their secret was on the edge of being exposed, and they couldn’t dare to let it escape. This woman, Vic, as Daiyu called her, could be a zealot as much as Winnifred was. There was no telling. They thought of Tommy, of how important it was to keep him safe right now. So he swallowed his annoyance and fear and put on a neutral expression. “Winnifred has entrusted us with more than you know about.” They spoke in an icy tone, eager to be rid of the eavesdropper. “Something you are not privy to knowing as we are.”

__

Wow.  This person had remembered her name.  That was more than Vic could say for herself.  It might have started with a G… or was it a D?   Denise…?  Deirdre…?   “Actually, Diana, I was referring to your little ‘vamps on lockdown’ comment which was, well… incredibly attention grabbing.”  She let her voice raise slightly as she said this, indicating to the two in front of her that she was not bluffing about calling everyone back.  This kind of intel was exactly what she had been waiting for, and she was not about to lose it because two goons thought she could be outsmarted by charm and wit.  She mimicked the polite smile that was thrown her way, clapping her hands together as she looked between the two of them expectantly, as if she were a school principal looking between two children and not a stranger infiltrating a private conversation.  If the situation were reversed, she would have scolded herself for her lack of manners.  

Daiyu.  Right.  She would make sure to remember that now.  “Tell me, Alistair, if that is your real name, is there a hierarchy to membership that I wasn’t made aware of when I joined?  Because I was under the impression that this was a group filled with equity.  Should I contact Winnifred and let her know I was led astray?”  She watched their expressions for any hint of a bluff, any twinge she could call them out on.  “Because if you two are locking up vampires I think that’s something she’d be mighty interested in hearing about, don’t you?”  How dare these two sully the good name of the Neighbors with their nefarious on-goings? The rumors she’d been hearing must have been about them, not the group as a whole.

__

Alistair could not have made a more apt assessment of Daiyu if he’d tried. She did want to press every button they had and then some, even if this was not the time nor place. Maybe there wasn’t any — Alistair held seniority and perhaps even rank over her when it came to the inner circle, but that kind of authority had never held her back. That just made her want to push the buttons harder. She was about to comment on it and support whatever Alistair was saying when Vic interjected.

The irony of being named Diana, goddess of the hunt, was lost on her, and not just because she was realizing how hot the water at their feet was. “Oooooh,” she said, nodding, her head scrambling for a fitting lie. “Have you not seen that … YouTube miniseries? It’s about vampires during Covid, you know. Vamps on lockdown. No one’s locking up vampires.” But — shit, the lie would and could not hold up. Her cheeks grew a little red. This was why she preferred to her weapons and her woods and her beasts. Those didn’t require clever social communications. Those just required tracking and silence and brute violence.

Bruteness she could do, though. “I wish you all the fucking luck going tattle-tale to Winnifred,” she stated boldly. Winnifred would be mad, but she’d be able to handle it, right? Daiyu was sure this suburban mom could be kept silent. “Also, what the hell are you even talking about? Vampires aren’t real. That’s ridiculous. You must’ve gotten lost in the town forums!” 

__

As soon as the two started arguing with each other, Alistair pinched the bridge of their nose and sighed, shaking their head. “You’re a certified idiot,” Alistair muttered to Daiyu before turning to look in Vic’s general direction with a calculated expression. Interested she’d be indeed since it was her idea, Alistair thought to themselves with a roll of their eyes. “Daiyu has fantastical ideas that need to be kept in check,” they spoke simply, expression hardened with their arms crossed over their chest. 

“It’s cute that you think you know so much, however. It’s no secret that there’s a hierarchy.” They responded in a short, clipped tone. “I was here when the group was founded, I’ve been here since the beginning, Winnifred trusts me more than she’d trust you. And if you were to go running to her because you heard things? She’d believe me far more than she’d ever believe you.” Alistair took a step toward Vic, lips curling up in a snarl. “So I suggest you know your place before you go making an absolute fool of yourself.”

__

Vic squinted her eyes at Daiyu, scowling at her sad attempt at a lie.  Did she take her for an idiot?  “I’m not a fool.  I’ve seen nearly all of the youtube miniseries, and none of them are about vampires protecting themselves from infectious disease.”  She moved a little closer to the other woman, an attempt at appearing intimidating.  Normally, she would go right along with pretending her own species didn’t exist, but secrets be damned, it seemed like the fate of some undead were in her hands.  There was no time for lies now.

“Cut the crap, Daiyu.  Anyone who’s lived in this town for more than a week can see the truth.  You know they exist as well as I know you’re lying.”  Her eyes turned to Alistair as they tried to make an excuse for the other woman, but she just shook her head at their words.  “Oh, really?  Does seniority beget morals these days?  I wasn’t aware the Good Neighbors were so… nefarious.  Should I put in a motion to change the name at our next meeting?”  Alistair was right, though, at least about her place in the group.  Maybe she needed to try more desperate measures.

“Perhaps I should go straight to the town itself, then?  I’m sure Wicked’s Rest would be mighty interested to learn that a large portion of their population is at risk for being ‘vamps on lockdown’, don’t you think?  I guess if I wasn’t privy to what you were up to here, going to them would be my only solution.”

—

Something hot blazed in her chest when Alistair called her an idiot and spoke about her as if she was a toddler in need of controlling. Daiyu stared daggers at him and then at Vic, too, who was moving closer to her as if she held any physical threat over her. She didn’t think twice before shoving her, palms flat against the other’s shoulders, “Back the fuck off,” she snapped, resisting the urge to shove Alistair and his apt yet hurtful words, too. That urge was resisted, though.

“The miniseries totally exists, too, you’re just too much of a fucking boomer to find it,” she snapped, “You’re totally delusional.” But Alistair wasn’t denying the existence of vampires, nor the fact that they were locking them up — which made Daiyu take pause. She glared between the two of them, feeling somehow like she was the one out of the know between them all. Maybe she really was an idiot. The heat continued to blaze in her chest.

So she let out a sound, something between a snarl and a laugh, “The town would be fucking glad to know that we’re rounding up the people responsible for all the disappearances and freak murders, idiot.” It felt good to call Vic one, when it was her who was the fool. “Don’t know what’s nefarious about that.”

__

Alistair listened as Daiyu reminded Vic of the purpose of the Good Neighbors, taking in a breath slowly as they attempted to keep a level head. There would be no good rising to the girls’ anger levels. So they slinked back, holding tightly onto Brutus’s lead with a deep sigh escaping their lips. There was something to this Vic woman, who seemed so worried about vampires and what they were doing. 

Something that made Alistair pause. “What do you know of vampires? Better yet, why do you care so much about their well-being?” She was busy interrogating them, why weren’t they interrogating her right back? “I mean, if you have nothing to hide, then you’d simply see what we do as par for the course, but you’re not. Instead, you want to know what we’re doing, something you should be already aware of, if you’ve attended the meetings and paid attention.” 

Narrowing their gaze, Alistair leaned toward Vic, a sneer on their face. “Sounds like you’re hiding something, too. And you know what I’m capable of if you’ve paid attention.” They bared their teeth, green smoke beginning to swirl around the woman’s feet. “So don’t. Test. Me.”

__

Vic was taken aback as she was shoved backwards, although she didn’t let the emotions of that shock play on her face.  Instead, she smiled at Daiyu, raising her eyebrows in challenge.  “I think I’ve touched a nerve”, she said to no one in particular.  “What’s nefarious is blanketing an entire population of beings as immoral murderers.  It must be exhausting to live in a gray world and only see black and white.”  She was being a hypocrite, and she knew it.  Half a decade ago she would have been donating millions to the Good Neighbors if it meant they were locking vampires up, no nuance needed.

She wanted to crawl out of her skin, because Alistair, who wasn’t supposed to know her at all, seemed to be staring deep into her soul with a magnifying glass.  Subconsciously, her hands fiddled with her cloaking bracelet.  “I’m a fucking open book, Big Dog.  I didn’t realize it was such a crime to care about those unlike myself.”

As the smoke gathered around her feet, she looked up at Alistair, then over at Daiyu, then back down.  Oh, shit.  Smoke was never good, especially not when it was that color.  Perhaps it was time to swallow her pride, maybe she was approaching this wrong.  “Look”, she said with a sigh, biting her tongue.  “I’m not-... I’ve heard the two of you talk in the meetings.  I know you’re not bad people.  Perhaps I’ve misunderstood what I overheard…”  Was this pathetic?  She wasn’t sure.  She was hoping, if someone were writing a story about her life, that she sounded more manipulative and cool, instead of just like a groveling idiot.  “Maybe you could explain what you were talking about before I walked in, and we can settle this the easy way.”

__

Her hands were itching from that shove, sharp violent instincts longing for more than such a simple act — but she held back from starting a brawl in Winnifred’s basement. Daiyu really wanted to wipe that smug grin from Vic’s face, though, but it seemed Alistair was taking care of that. She watched as smoke gathered around Vic’s feet and took a step back from it, something like a grimace marring her face.

That seemed to shut Vic up, though, or at least make her speak in a way that was less accusatory. Not that Daiyu liked being called a not-bad person, as she had no idea if that was true. She didn’t want to explain herself, didn’t want to get into what the Good Neighbors (inner circle edition) were all about — because she didn’t know any more. Questions of morality and goodness were harder than algebra to her and so she preferred to avoid them.

So she latched onto something Vic had said, “We are not blanketing any population as immortal murderers, or whatever you said — we just take care of the actual threats, the actual fuckheads that do harm.” The vampires who liked coating themselves with blood, the lamia that ate indiscriminately, the werewolves that didn’t know the first thing about learning self control. “I don’t think we owe you any type of explanation, right Alistair?” She was looking up at them, considering they were causing the flames. “Just trust we are –” Fuck. She wasn’t sure how to be convincing. “Living up to our titles of good neighbors.”

__

As soon as Daiyu began talking, Alistair realized what they were doing. The eerie smoke dissipated and left them standing there with a snarl on their face. Point proven. “There’s more to the Good Neighbors than meets the eye,” Alistair explained, dropping the snarl and replacing it with a look of indifference. “There’s an inner working to the those who hold a position of power within the Good Neighbors.” They waved a hand as they spoke, “and you have to trust that we know what we’re doing.” 

In truth, Alistair no longer had a clue what they were doing. After they’d been visited by Mikael, they’d hesitated to heal people using the monsters in the keep as fodder. Maybe Mikael was right, maybe it was Alistair who was the monster, not the other way around. The fear and hesitation of it all was clear as day on their face for a split second before they blinked and brought their expression back to neutral.

__

Vic balked, breathing slow out of her nose as she considered her next move.  As the two in front of her explained more, she was beginning to realize that this was much more complicated than she thought.  “If that’s true, it might be something I could get behind”, she said, blinking toward Daiyu. Some vampires were bad, right?  Just like some people were bad.  Nuance. And then more information spilled out, from Alistair this time, as they shared about the inner circle.  Despite the hiccup, Vic was still proud of herself for getting this out of them and not getting kicked out of the group.  Not… yet, anyway.

“And how exactly does one become a… better Neighbor? Is that what the inner circle is called?  Better Neighbors?  It should be… perhaps we could workshop that.”  Vic really should have been more active in those meetings, she had great ideas. She didn’t know if she had any interest in joining per say, but it was good to know that there would be an option, if worse came to worst.  For the time being, Vic was satisfied, if not a little embarrassed, that she’d managed to uncover something she’d been wondering about for a long while.

“No one needs to know about this conversation”, she said, looking between the two so she could avoid eye contact with both of them.  “I’ll simply… forget it ever happened, and we can spend the next few meetings ignoring each other for good measure.”  She wouldn’t pretend like it never happened, of course, but Daiyu and Alistair didn’t need to know that.  “I…apologize…if my initial nature seemed threatening or abrasive.  Many people call me Karen, and I’m sure you know what that implies.”  After a beat, she said, “I’m working on it.”

—

“As you should. You’re a good neighbor. You’d condemn someone who litters and damages stuff too, right? So.” It was clearly the same. Daiyu thought it sounded kind of logical, anyway, even if she was pretty bad at creating or seeing nuance. She just wanted to say something, to feel like she had the upper hand in this situation even if she’d already lost her cool once or twice. 

At the notion that Vic should become a member of the inner circle, she raised an eyebrow. She was just a human. A lucky human, who wasn’t as ignorant as she should be but still was just that. She did not bring any strength or training to the table, or magic. “Um, you’re picked. By Winnifred. She’s like super picky, though.” If it sounded like a brag, it was because it was — Daiyu still found some pride in having been accepted into that inner circle, even if she sometimes found herself unable to sleep over images of the Keep. 

She flashed a thumbs up to Vic. She was about to accept this solution, but let her eyes flash up to Alistair first. Daiyu would prefer not to report this to Winnifred, especially as it was her fault that Vic had overheard their conversation. But while she’d gladly keep her lips sealed about this slip up, she wasn’t sure the necromancer would, too. “Totally forgot this convo happened already,” she said, to make her own stance clear. “You totes are a Karen. We need ‘em though.”

__

Daiyu was right, Winnifred was picky. And Alistair considered themselves lucky to be one of the firsts in her inner circle, even if they spent the majority of the time wishing it wasn’t happening. They had their means to an end, and that’s the only reason they involved themselves. Of course, it was going to catch up to them in the end as more people found out about it. “Keep doing what you’re doing, keep sticking to your resolve, and perhaps she will notice you,” Alistair remarked with an idle shrug of their shoulders. 

As Daiyu spoke of forgetting the interaction, Alistair let out a soft hum and shrugged their shoulders. “Forgotten,” they murmured, waving a hand in dismissal. They would prefer to not have to explain the whole situation to Winnifred, who would absolutely throw a fit about the whole thing. They didn’t want to have to deal with it. Daiyu slipped up, so what? It happens. To err is to human or whatever, right? Despite all her shortcomings and annoying antics, Alistair had to admit there was a part of them that liked Daiyu. So they were willing to let it go. “The Good Neighbors is nothing but Karens,” Alistair then complained with a frown. 

“Just keep doing what you’re doing and Winnifred is sure to notice you. Care. That’s the point of the group, is it not? You care enough to keep people safe from harm.” They raised a brow as they looked in the direction of Vic’s voice. There was an inner turmoil raging within Alistair, knowing that not caring enough was what was getting them into this mess in the first place. Not caring got them into trouble, not caring was the reason they were falling apart at the seams. Maybe it was because, after all this time, they found themselves caring in the end. The guilt was tearing them apart, and sooner or later, they’d have to do something about it, wouldn’t they?

__

“Well, of course.  But littering and property damage are inherently immoral, so of course I’d condemn those types of things.”   Vic had actually already condemned plenty of people for doing those many things, and placed them under citizen’s arrests, as was clearly the only proper response.  But how could Daiyu compare those things and what they had been discussing?  People who were turned into monsters against their will and monsters who threw garbage on the ground because they were lazy, inconsiderate slugs could not be any different, in her eyes.

Both Daiyu and Allistair seemed to imply that only the best of the best were picked for the inner circle, and she knew it was the only way she’d gain more information.  But being silent in meetings was, apparently, not going to get her any further.  So she had to shmooze.  It wouldn’t be too hard, right?  She had done it for years to slayers and skeeze balls alike.  It was probably like riding a bike, she surmised, and it would be easy to get back into it.  

Except it hadn’t been so easy to manipulate Daiyu and Allistair, had it?  

But then, maybe it had.  Almost as quick as she had asked it, they were both agreeing to forget this whole conversation ever happened.  A smart, easy solution that benefitted all three of them, it seemed.  But Vic still had what she wanted, even if it was only mere crumbs of information when she had been seeking a whole loaf of bread.  No matter- she was sure it would only be a matter of time before she moved up the ladder, getting her one step closer to protecting vampires once and for all. 

[cantsomeoneelsedoit]

Ch 55: Use Your Rules

Oh fun! An old-fashioned human+monster 2-on-2!

I'm not sure what this kind of mixed-doubles fight genre is called, but it's different than regular summoning where the humans just sit back and watch--Otherwise I would've filled this page with tokusatsu gifs like I really wanted to

The chapter title "Use Your Rules" already reminded me of this meme and then Tozuka had to go and give Spoil that face, so this happened...

I am so sorry everyone the doctors say my brain is spoiled

Poor Spoil. He's really going through it!

Juiz tells him that even if she eliminated him, another rule would compensate for his loss. That's an interesting idea in UU and it explains why they had a concept of "years" even though they didn't have Revolution in place.

The idea that the world will "fill in the gaps" if a rule goes missing raises the question of what is considered a necessary or sufficient aspect of the world. In Ch 14, Spoil claimed to be a necessary rule ⬇️

Maybe he just has an inflated ego and he's not actually necessary. Or is Juiz just bluffing when she says that he's replaceable? He might just be jabbering, though. He was in a very different situation when he was bragging to Fuuko!

Wow, Juiz is scary!

She immediately informs him that he's at a disadvantage-- it's crazy how many steps ahead she's already planned for. She knew Billy's plan, his goal, his weapon, etc, and she knew how their Pokemon would match up.

Spoil's such a brat! I love him! He's not even looking at Burn when he shoots; he's looking at Juiz because he's about to say, "See? I told you!"

But he gets socked in the jaw by Burn instead.

Poor lil feller

Billy tells Tella to stay back and that he'll handle the situation. Is he really planning to kill Juiz?!

It looks like Billy might be thinking the same thing Tella's saying.

Juiz's focus and speed with her saber is ridiculous!

My love for Mihawk knows no bounds, but Juiz did that with a smaller sword and at a shorter distance, j/s. Then again, he's lazy and she's a go-getter, so it makes sense.

I love the layout on the next page.

Unfortunately, that's kind of true for Juiz as far as Union leadership, as well. Because Juiz is so honest to her own sense of right and wrong, her actions can be predictable.

She uses Unjustice on Burn, who GRRR?s back at her. Can Burn not speak at all?

Acting against his sense of Justice, Burn blocks Billy's bullet from hitting Juiz, revealing that Burn really is on Billy's side, and not just a hostage. Spoil can't resist trolling.

"Mr. Stubble!" I'm glad someone acknowledged it! Billy's been out here in the wild for a while now...

What's the favor that Burn is paying back to Billy?

Concept-types seem to be more overarching and multifaceted compared to phenomenon-types. Winter has more going on than just being cold, for example.

Is this why Spoil has a chip on his shoulder? Does he have a bit of an inferiority complex caused by God's favoritism and phenomenon-types being snobby to him? Or maybe he's just kind of a SPOILed brat and so he likes to complain about others-- it won't be clearer until we meet more UMAs that show inter-UMA dynamics lol.

To illustrate his point, Burn shines a bright light into the sky. It seems the favor he owes Billy is that Billy has given him a chance to meet his "maker."

Interestingly, Spoil can understand Burn! I wonder if Billy also had a way to talk to Burn and negotiate their partnership. Could he have used a version of Tella's equipment to allow Burn to speak?

The "childhood memories" line cracks me up. It hadn't even occurred to me that UMA would have life stages.

Use your rules to make humans suffer? WTF, God? Because it seems like some of these rules could be used to help humans under the right circumstances, like Burn providing warmth or Clothy making clothes. So if there's a specific directive to be malicious about it, then it means that God really is only interested in making the humans miserable to force them to try to overcome their circumstances.

Billy assumed that Spoil was aiming at him, but the beam actually hit the ground. From the way Spoil thinks aloud, ("So I can start shooting once he uses Unstoppable, was that it?") it's obvious that Juiz has instructed him on what to do here, and he's surprisingly obedient.

Her plan worked, and Billy gets hit with the Spoil beam. Tella is AGHAST. Billy had told him he'd take care of everything, and Tella never doubted him. Even so, he doesn't rush forward to get involved--he stays back and follows orders.

We know that Billy can use Unjustice because he used it on Tatiana. So why won't he use it on Juiz? He claims that her mindset is predictable and easy to read, so it's probably safe to assume what her vision of justice is, yet he still doesn't try to negate it.

If Billy is holding back, it could be that he simply doesn't want to kill the person who has the most information about the way this world works. Juiz's tears are sincere, but Billy's still hiding something...

Masterpost

[stxrmylxve]

hi, could you make a smut of ryusei satou x sub reader him calling his house after his mother left

I looked up this character and like who is this hottie?? 😀 I read the manga and yet didn’t even remember this gang wtf uhmm anyways… enjoy! (fem reader)

He waved goodbye to his mother as she blew him a kiss and got into her old car, backing out of the driveway and driving off in an instant.

He sighs to himself and ran a hand through his curly hair, glancing over at your house across the street to see you peering back coincidentally. You smiles awkwardly and waves, spawning a smile on his face and he held up his phone and pointed to it with his other hand.

He turned away first, walking into the now still house and slumped on the couch, awaiting his phone to go off. Sure enough, it did about a minute later, and his screen read ‘the cute neighbor ❤️’.

He answered it and listened to you rustle around and say goodbye to your parents, imagining you tugging on the same slip on shoes you always wore and slung your bag over your shoulder, shutting the door and starting towards his house.

“Miss me so much you needed to talk to me before you saw me?” he says with a chuckle as you hang up abruptly, knocking on the door soon after.

He rubs his eyes and gets up, dragging towards the door with a smile as he opens it up to have his beliefs true; your hair was a mess, you wore the same sweatshirt you always wore to cover up what you sported only for him, and your slip on shoes matched your bag.

“Hey.” he says simply, stepping aside to allow you into the familiar house.

“How much time do we have today?” you ask, slipping your shoes off at the door and setting down your bag nearby.

“A few hours. Plenty of time.” he says as he tugs your sweatshirt off, revealing the overly short crop top with a red laced bra. He could only imagine how the rest of you looked, so he also tugged off your shorts to reveal your matching set.

You instinctively put your hands up, both the cold air and the fact that you were almost naked with him fully clothed getting to you.

“Oh come on, nothing I haven’t seen.” he says with a chuckle as he drags you towards his bedroom.

~—————~

“Still as beautiful as ever.” he says with a cheeky grin as you layed down on his bed, covering your face with your hands as he lined up.

“Let me see that pretty face, otherwise I won’t do anything.” he says sternly as you peak through your hands, but not taking them completely off.

You let out a whine of disapproval as he pinched your nipple, taking your hands off with a pout as you looked the other way.

“unfair.” you muttered as he quirked his eyebrows in amusement at your unusually bratty behavior.

“What’s gotten into you? Do I need to teach you..” he starts as he runs an icy finger along your chin, “how to act correctly?”

You shook your head and earned another annoyed look, opting to mutter a small “no”.

“No? You think not?” he says, bringing his head down to have his hot breathing right on your neck, sending shivers down your spine as he bit down on the tender skin.

“No.. my parents..” you whined out, but he places a hand over your mouth as he moved over farther, leaving a wet line of purple like a necklace.

He suddenly shoved himself all the way in, bringing tears to prick at your eyes as you struggled to take all of him at once.

“Ryu.. too- much!” you blabbed out as he rose up and propped you up on his legs, drilling into the spot he knew drove you crazy as your face scrunched up.

“Like that?” he asks with a sadistic lauch as you nodded your head, barely even having to with the way the thrusts were bobbing you up and down already hard enough.

You came undone, surprising both of you, yet he didn’t stop his ruthless pace, sending you into overstimulation as you clawed at his wrists.

He said sweet nothings to you, but they fell onto deaf ears. It hadn’t even been half an hour yet and your head was spinning, eye rolled back as far as they could go as he hit your g-spot over and over. You had long ago made a ring of your slick on his cock, but he went on and on and on.

You wondered if you weren’t doing well, saying that he hadn’t busted yet evn once when you were edging onto your third time. It took all of the energy you had, but you clamped down on him with all of your strength and that was all he needed to coat your insides with white.

He threw his head back and let out a guttural moan as you both came, warmth flooding your bodies as you went through your highs.

“shit.. w-wow baby.” was all he could get out as he slumped over you, taking you into his arms as he kissed the love spots he had left earlier on your neck and collarbone.

“You’ve never done that shit before.” he said, esrning a content hum from you as you brushed his hair with your hands, smiling to yourself at your grand achievement.

“Wanna do that.. I don’t know.. maybe another dozen times?”

[sugar-omi]

omg idk if u do nsfw request but could you like write jealous cove x fem reader nsfw? i think cove isn’t the type to feel possessively jealous but there’s times he can’t let it go but it’s not a like “your mine!!” type possessive more like a “im yours!!” possessive? IDK IF THAT MAKES SENSE SORRY

DW IT MAKES A LOTTA SENSE N I AGREE W EVERYTHING U JUST SAID!! i hope i lived up to your rq 🙏🙏 i enjoyed writing this sm

tags : NSFW, fem reader, jealous cove, service top cove, hand jobs, penetration, between step 3 and 4, you are in college, mention of wanting to marry you

(mentions step 3 "happiness" moment and you getting upset when cove doubted you'd still be together at the end of summer in step 3.

also i'm thinking abt the patreon moment n how cove likes just a hint of pain n runnning w it, i'll never recover from it!)

synopsis : cove is jealous and worried about you finding another man, so you ease his anxiety.

you have always reassured cove that you love him, that he makes you the happiest girl in the world. you promised him that he doesn't have to do anything special to make you happy, that he alone makes you happy.

cove can't help but feel loved every time he thinks about it. and after you got mad at him for doubting the strength of your relationship, brought to tears by the notion, cove promised himself to never make you cry sad or angry tears ever again if he can help it.

but you're standing there, talking with a classmate of from one of your classes and you're laughing and he's looking at you with one too many hearts in his eyes and a darker voice in the smallest crease of cove's mind wonders if you'd like if he looked like that.

hair styled in a way that was casual but handsome, and a ribbed turtle neck under a cream jacket.

cove quickly dismisses that thought, knowing you prefer him in less layers and that you'd never ask him to change his style unless the weather called for more layers must to his chagrin.

unable to take anymore, broken by the guy putting a hand on your shoulder. cove steps out the car, easily taking long strides and he calls out to you.

"y/n!"

you turn around, happy as a peach to see your boyfriend and cove's heart throbs at how easily you forget about the guy in front of you. "are you ready to go eat? its gonna be lunch rush soon..." cove bites h is lips, wondering if thats a good enough excuse to get you out of this guys reach before he puts too many moves on you.

"yeah, just-" you adjust your backpack straps and turn to address your classmate but you step towards cove, taking his hand in yours. "i gotta go, but you should check the online class board, you can download the notes from there! bye!"

cove pulls you away as you barely finish your greetings, opening the car door for you but he slams his own door and winces but pulls out the lot nonetheless, making the drive back to your shared home.

"cove? what's wrong?" you put your hand on his thigh soothingly but cove just jumps at the sudden touch, his head hits the steering wheel, trying to use the break at the stop light to push away his jealousy.

knowing he can't hide from you, cove address you, looking at you with teary puppy eyes, not wanting to upset you but his heart is in turmoil.. "i'm jealous. i know i shouldn't be but- but! that guy was definitely hitting on you and i know you love me but i'm worried you'll leave me for someone better an-" cove whimpers, blinking his eyes as he focuses on the road again and turns onto your street.

"cove... i'm so sorry baby, i- i didn't even notice he was hitting on me. he was just asking about what he missed during class... if it helps, he's only in my elective class! we're not even in the same major so-"

cove cuts you off, quickly and smoothly parking the car in your designated space. "it's not just him. like.. baxter, or derek. i know we haven't heard from baxter in awhile but he was so smooth and flirty and confident. and derek, well derek is nice and reliable and.. i don't know." cove leans over the console.

"i don't want you to leave me for someone better, i know you said you won't but. i love you so much. i wanna be your's forever, i wanna marry you one day! i love being your boyfriend so much, y/n.." cove frets, pushing his head into your hand when you cup his cheek, fighting tears and failing.

"cove. i love you. you'll always be mine." you kiss his face, hovering over his lips, "you'll always be my special lover boy."

cove purrs, melting into your kiss. when you pull away, cove looks at you with hooded lids, "l-lets go inside..."

you barely make it through the door, your hands running under cove's shirt and he trembles trying to put the key in the door, steadying when you wrap your hand around his and guide him.

when the door unlocks, you pull cove in, kissing his neck as you reach behind him to flip the lock and slip the chain through the track. "y-y/n, ahh.." cove mutters breathlessly, some other words escaping his mouth in a jumbled mess but you hear a stuttered "feels good" and you keep going, pulling him through the house to your bedroom.

on the way, your shoes are left haphazardly in front of the door and a trail of clothes breadcrumb the hallway.

you push cove onto the bed, stepping out of your bottoms and left in just your underwear, you help cove unbutton his shorts, pushing away shaky hands.

you slip off his boxers, deciding to take care of cove while he's still pliable. "shh baby, let me take care of you.." you settle in his lap and cove throws his head back in a shaky moan when your hand wraps around his sensitive cock, stroking him slowly and swiping your skilled hands over his weeping slit, knowing how to work your boyfriend's body in the best ways.

"y/n..." cove whines, bucking his hips into your hand as you grope him through his boxers.

"t-tighter, please.. ah!" cove groans when your hand tightens around his cock the way he likes, feeling a knot build in his abdomen at your increasingly faster strokes. "i'm, i'm close.. mh-" cove gasps, finger tips digging into your hips.

in his lusty haze, cove looks at your bra and works the front clasp the way you showed him. you grin knowingly, enjoying cove's blush as his eyes train on how your breast bounce when the clasp comes undone.

you arch your back, encouraging cove to play with your chest. his lips clasp on your collar bone, nibbling and sucking lightly so as to not leave marks but when you flex your hand around his cock cove bites particularly hard, sure enough to leave a bruise.

something primal inside of him feels pleased at that.

cove shudders, looking up from your chest to meet your eyes. "w-why did you stop?.."

you smile, kissing your lovely boy on the cheek. "don't want you to finish yet." you reach for a condom, urging cove to lean against the pillows.

you're not too worried about stretching yourself as you'd had sex the night before and only applying ample lube for what will definitely be a bit of a long night, thankful your classes are over for the day.

cove takes his place, shaking when you roll the condom over his sensitive cock. you straddle his lap, hands gripping his shoulders as you line him up with your cunt.

you sink onto his cock, moaning sharply when his tip hits your bladder from inside, your cunt sensitive and nearly dripping with your slick.

when you finally take him to the hilt, his cock rubbing all the sensitive spots inside you and reaching deeper than you could ever reach on your own.

cove gasps and holds you tighter when your cunt trembles around him, kissing you as you gently bounce on his lap. "cove, cove..." you mutter, breathless and your eyes water at the sensation of his cock dragging against your gummy walls.

cove grips your hips, grinding your hips together making you moan loudly. "can i.. *swallows* can i move too?"

you nod, whining when cove instantly bucks his hips into yours, taking the lead at your instruction.

you pull cove into a kiss, your tongues dancing together before the kiss turns gentle and loving. breaking away for air, cove trails kisses down your neck as you gasp and moan, his cock hitting your walls in a way that makes you leak with more slick and clench tightly around him.

"i'm gonna cum, fuck please cove! more!"

cove reaches for your clit, his thumb circling your sensitive clit as he brings you over the edge. "i love you y/n, so happy to be yours.. please cum, wanna feel you cum around me." cove whispers sweet and dirty words in your ear, "you feel so good.. ahh fuck, thats it.. agh fuck!"

cove trembles, cumming into the condom as your pussy tightens and your thighs shake on either side of him.

cove collapses into your shoulder, wrapping his arms around you and you both shake in each others embrace.

"i love you." you kiss cove's head, coming down from your orgasm.

cove kisses your neck back, his lips tickle against your sweaty skin as he speaks, "i love you too.."

"cove? what're you-"

you pull yourself off his lap, cove throwing the tied off condom in the trash and before you can get up he pulls you back into his lap.

cove's brilliant blue eyes drill into you, sparking the flames of your heart and your cunt throbs with need. "i still want you.."

you laugh, happily sinking into the bed with cove on top of you.

cove grabs a condom from the open drawer and rolls it over his sensitive but still hard cock, quickly sinking into your warmth.

he moans shakily, drawing his hips back and slamming back into you, your legs wrapped loosely around his waist so he can fuck you and still steal a kiss from you.

cove leans into your neck, his body supported by his forearms but he still looms over you. "i love you.. so happy to be your boyfriend, ngh-.. i-i love belonging to you."

you scratch down cove's back. "you're mine.. ah!" cove picks up the pace, ignited by you agreeing that he's yours.

cove mumbles happily into your neck, most of his chant muffled by his face buried in your neck; sucking marks and hiding at the same time. most of it is moans, but you hear a few "yours.. yours..." among his moans.

cove grunts at the use of the nickname, buoyed to go further and he reaches between your bodies to rub your clit.

feeling that knot in your stomach, you tell cove you're coming. "c-c'mon cove! make me cum, want my sunshine to make me cum!"

you reach orgasm together for the second time, cove dripping sweat onto you.

you both pant, the temperature making you squirm.

cove speaks first, "..i love you, love you so much. i'm sorry i got jealous.."

"its okay cove, if this is how its gonna be you get jealous more often!"

cove groans, embarrassed by your teasing. "carry me to the shower?"

cove pops up, bright like an obedient puppy. "yes!"